


A Spirited Life

by The_Lone_Lobster



Category: Original Work
Genre: Fluff and Humor, Harem, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Multi, Original Fiction, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:53:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 31,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21896206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Lone_Lobster/pseuds/The_Lone_Lobster
Summary: Jake Robertson always believed there was more to this world and existence as a whole than anyone even himself could imagine, but no matter how much thought or imagination he could've put towards such a notion would he have ever been able to predict just how much there was to be discovered.
Kudos: 2





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Though this is going to be a harem story do not expect nudity or sexual references every two seconds, it is simply a harem due to the love interests of the main character of course being more than one, the story focuses more so on the emotional bonds the main character forms and develops with the others, truth be told I don't think I will ever include sexual content in this story as I truly do not think there's any point, as it would do nothing to serve the actual narrative.

It is both humorous and dangerously ignorant to think that all we know is all there is to know, to believe that what has been discovered on our world alone is all that we will need to discover or that it is all that is worth discovering is limiting our range of thought and question. But it is not just the great beyond that is the vastness of the universe that we need to look towards for answers to questions as well as new revelations and information, in our own world and in our own lives there is so much that we have yet to truly understand and grasp. From where we go once we depart this mortal world upon death to uncertainties of a greater creator or beings of the like, even now with all that we have accomplished and have created to aid us in this pursuit of knowledge and understanding we still know so little. But perhaps as time has gone on we've forgotten a great deal of what we once knew, perhaps man while primitive in the measure of technology and evolution was more advanced than man today in other ways such as knowledge and perception.

For surely the tales of people and civilizations that have passed weren't just the result of their minds making sense of what they at the time couldn't understand, perhaps the legends and stories of gods, spirits, demons, angels, and so forth actually were true, or at the very least held more truth to them than we realize. And maybe it was as man changed that these wonders, creatures, and visits from higher beings made them scarcer and scarcer until eventually we were no longer able to know of their existence. For it is fact that as man grew so did their intelligence and creativity as well as their desires for conquest and power, and with the result being a never ending history of wars, diseases, slavery, and suffering in general, these things of a greater existence than our own no longer wished to be in our company let alone reveal themselves to us. But what if by chance they were still among us, whether in disguise or simply in a way which we cannot interact or sense their presence, allowing them to freely roam the world and do as they pleased without any worry of being detected by us?

And what if through the means of using such power they chose to observe us and see if there should come a day when we are worthy to know of them once more, a day in which man is able to put aside it's petty nature and embrace not just themselves but everything that there is and has always been? Or maybe they are simply waiting until they find a person in this world who is worthy of being granted such insight into all that has been lost to the test of time and myth, and when they should find this person...well...who knows what would happen then?

* * *

"This is Jake Robertson with experiment journal entry number six, I believe I have finally perfected the gateway's design, hopefully this time around I will be able to successfully get it working without there being severe malfunction, as I do not possess anymore attire so I cannot afford for what I have left to be destroyed in such an event." A man spoke into a device held within his left hand, as he wrote what he had just spoken onto paper with the other.

Not many people in this day and age would be so willing to try and replicate the things they had read in a book or perhaps had seen in a movie, and while this was in no way the reason behind his life's dedication, Jake Robertson was still a man that most would deem an unfortunate waste of potential. Having been born into one of England's most renowned families that had no ties to their royals, he displayed even at an early age an impressive intellect and a seemingly endless desire to learn. At the young age of seven he was already reading, thinking, and working at a high school level, and by age thirteen he not only received multiple degrees and honors from an array of schools in both Europe and abroad, but he was also sought out to be the next leading mind in a multitude of different fields, so it seemed as though his future would be one of his own design. Which in truth it was, but it was not the design that his family and those around him would've ever guessed it to be, for instead of being a titan of industry like his parents or going on to be one of the few people in history to win a Nobel Peace Prize, he chose to pursue things that most would deem childish fantasies.

For while he was in fact a man of science and logic, he made sure to never exclude his imagination and inquisitive nature, for the way he saw it there was already much the world had known of itself and so he decided he should try and find truths in things that had been deemed as fables and stories. In short he desired to see if there was any validation to the claims of spirits and specters, if there was any reality in the myths and legends of creatures as grand as dragons or as small as fairies, and if there truly was a god or gods that resided in a plain of existence that they had yet to know of. And as one could imagine upon revealing his direction in life, he was immediately thrown from the spotlight he had been placed into without choice, no longer did the world believe him to be a genius, nor was he sought to partake in researches and studies being conducted by his former peers, and as for his own family they tried their best to bring him back to reality before they simply excluded him altogether. By age sixteen he was without a home, without a job, and only possessed what money he had kept to himself, leaving him with next to no options whatsoever in the world.

Which to him was not a problem but more so an obstacle for which he had to overcome, for he knew once he had revealed his desires to his family and the world around him that he would be reprimanded and belittled for thinking such things, but he didn't care as he would pursue said desires for the rest of his days. But he knew that for what he sought to accomplish he wouldn't be able to do it in any kind of town or city, he would need complete isolation from civilization and would only come to rely on it when it was absolutely necessary. This is how he came to call his family's cabin deep within the wilderness his home, far from the civilized world and long since abandoned by his family as they believed it to be far too rundown and out of the way to refurbish and repair, he would make this not only his residence but his workshop. Of course though he would need to make many changes in order to make it a suitable environment, and the list of changes that were made to the former shamble of a cabin was immense.

First he would need to provide for himself a means of electricity, and while the cabin did possess a large and powerful generator, due to the years of neglect and the assault of nature it was what most would deem a lost cause. But with some modifications to it's design and a proper cleaning of the parts still viable, he was able to not only bring this once dead machine roaring back to life but also made it so it would not require fuel for power output, instead it would burn any waste or materials he threw into it to generate it's power. And thanks to his thoughtfulness of the environment that would now be his home, he made sure to include a filtration system for the smoke it would produce, as to turn it into clean air. Next there was the state of the cabin, and while the foundation, walls, and most of it's structure were just as good as the day the cabin had been put together, nearly every bit of furniture, appliance, decoration, and etcetera had rotted away due to some foreign element. But on the bright side this meant he would not be scarce on things to use in the generator, so after he finished moving all of these things to the back of his property, he then went on to chop down a few of the trees surrounding the cabin in order to make some furniture.

Finally there was the issue of resources and new appliances, for while he already had plans ready to make a small garden and he knew how to fish, he would still need materials to make any electronics, equipment, and inventions he would need for his researches. This unfortunately would be one of the few things he would have to travel back to civilization to obtain, for while he could try and find materials in the wilderness by searching for a cave system or something of the like, it would just be simpler to go get what he needed from a store as it would already be prepared for use. But he would not be able to do this for two years as he was far too busy on making the cabin what he needed it to be, so he wasn't able to begin any kind of research or project until he became eighteen. Yet besides getting a slight bit older other things about him had changed as well, such as his dark brown hair which once short and cleanly cut was now beyond his shoulders by an inch or so, and was fairly messy due to his long hours of work.

He had also grown quite a bit in those two years as when he was sixteen he was five foot eleven and now he had shot up to an impressive six foot six. As for his physique, before he was of average weight and tone, but due to his hard work and labor he was now much more muscular as a result, and it made him weigh a bit more as well. But while his body and hair had changed over those two years his sense of style hadn't in the slightest, from head to toe he dressed in attire that one would expect from a English gentleman in the early nineteen hundreds, complete with dress gloves, a pocket watch kept inside of his vest's pocket, and a perfectly made set of spectacles that not only helped him see but also showed off his dark brown eyes. And while he of course made sure to wash all the clothes he kept as best he could given the circumstances, due to his lifestyle and the limitations he had in perfectly pressing and cleaning his wardrobe, coupled with his appearance he honestly did look like the kind of mad scientist or insane villain one would find in classic black and white films.

Which is exactly why any time he went to town after two years of having disappeared from the world, rumors and speculation of what he was up to in those woods began to spread like verbal wildfire. And while most were fairly nonsensical such as the notion he was a modern day Doctor Frankenstein, others were more serious and of genuine curiosity. But despite their curiosities everyone did their best to keep away from him as the way he appeared made them all uneasy and uncertain, even though personality wise he was still just as friendly and courteous as he had always been. Yet this ironically enough motivated him even further to finally get on with the research and plans he had been dreaming about since he was a young child, for he wanted to show the world and all of those who had doubted him that there was so much to rediscover, that all of the legends, myths, and stories were true, or at least had some truth to them.

And all of this would start with his very first invention that he for the time being simply referred to as a gateway. But unlike most people where if they were to make such a thing they would make it with a destination already in mind, the purpose of the gateway wasn't to take him to a specific location, but to simply be the means to access any other plains of reality that should exist. Of course though making such a thing even in the realm of fiction was next to impossible without something that required little explanation such as magic, so in order to create something like this in the real world he would need some sort of platform to base this on, as he couldn't just build it and hope it would work as intended. So the first stages of the research while focused on the gateway's design was also focused on what would be the means of transportation and arrival, and in theory it was both simple and wise to try and make it more like a doorway of sorts than something that could easily be called a teleporter or a window in time.

The idea was that if he didn't have a set destination in mind such as something obvious like heaven or hell, then perhaps it could be a means to access any plain each and every time it was turned on. This however could potentially be extremely dangerous, for if in the hopeful likelihood the gateway did work and function as intended there was the chance it could just open into space, and if that would happen then he could not only get himself killed but cause an unknown amount of damage, for if he were to be pulled through he wouldn't then be able to turn the gateway off. Which is why the next phase of his research was focused entirely on contingencies and precautions, this unfortunately brought the total of his available funds for materials down to an incredibly small margin, meaning that this would either be the crowning moment of his life or it would be the most defeating. But no matter what it would take, no matter how many sleepless hours would be required, he was going to make his invention work, even if it would take him the rest of his life he would see that all of his efforts weren't for naught.

That brings us to the now, where after many months have passed by since the research began he has finally in hope perfected the gateway's design, all that was left now was to prepare for it's first test.

"Alright." He spoke as he clapped his hands, rubbing them slightly as they came together "There is much that needs to be done, first I need to go over the cabin and make sure there is not even one precarious status in any of it's structure, then I need to check the generator and make sure it has enough fuel to turn it on, and finally I have to make sure I tidy up this place, can't have anything important be possibly pulled into whatever portal or gateway the device creates." He listed to himself as he looked around "Actually, I think I'll start with that last one..." He said beneath his breath, as he after one glance at the room realized it was in far worse of a shape then he thought initially.

Walking over to the door and picking up the small waste basket that rested beside it, he began picking up every wad of paper, leftover material, and general trash he could find, some of which were the singed and torn remains of his other clothes. Soon the former pig stein of a room was now in a far better shape, nowhere near spotless but at least the floor was now clearly visible, and the shelves were now only lined with their proper contents and not things he had simply placed there for the time being. Content with his efforts he with the wastebasket still in hand walked out of the room, up the basement stairs, into the kitchen, and then out of the backdoor. From there he walked across what would be called his backyard to the decent sized shed that rested behind the cabin, where he not only kept his gardening tools and materials but where the generator was also housed.

"In you go." He said as he opened it's hatch and dumped the bucket's contents inside, "That alone should've provided a decent bit of power." He reasoned as he looked at it's gauge "Hmm...yes we should in fact have enough power to get it underway." He decided as he took his leave.

Walking out of the shed and back towards the cabin, he was completely unaware that just ten feet from him in the woods nearby he was being watched, by a pair of bright blue eyes that were intently following his every move. But it wouldn't be until he was just about to enter his home that the eyes' owner would dash from the woods and head straight for him. This however would make a great deal of noise, but by the time he turned around to see what was running towards him something had already hit his leg. Looking down he couldn't keep a smile from forming as the sight of a familiar face came into view.

"Why hello there." He greeted as he squatted down so he could look them in their eyes, "It's been quite a while since you've stopped by." He said.

Standing before him was a typical female red fox, complete with bright red fur on it's backside, black fur covering it's legs, and a beautifully pure snow white underbelly all of which was extremely soft and fluffy. But the most beautiful and amazing detail of this particular red fox was her bright blue eyes that shined in such a way they looked like two pure sapphires. Yet that was only focusing on her physical traits, as for her personality she was without question the most unique animal, fox or otherwise, that he had ever seen. For how he and this fox came to know of each other was purely by chance, as one day he was walking to a river nearby to fish when he came across her stuck in a trap.

Watching her struggle and do all that she could to free herself, he hurried back to his cabin and got both the tools he would need to free her as well as the medical supplies he would need to treat her injury. And as he expected, the moment he tried to get close to her to try and help her she immediately snarled and gnashed in his direction, to keep him as far from her as possible. But since he had no idea how long she had been there, nor how long the trap had been there and when the horrid person who set it would return, he was forced to sedate her so that he could free her and treat her injury. Once this was done he carefully carried her far from that location to a new one and hid her inside of some brush, this way if whoever set the trap did come for it later they wouldn't find her if she was still unconscious by then.

As for the trap itself, he took it back with him to his cabin where he dismantled it and kept whatever he could use for other things while throwing what he couldn't into the generator. And for a while it seemed like that chance encounter was all that it was, and both he and the fox had gone on to live their lives without ever seeing the other again. That is until one day as he was tending his garden he felt something run into his legs from behind, only to find as he looked downward that very same fox he had helped rubbing against his legs, possessing what he believed to be as happy of an expression as a fox could possibly make be present on her face. Since then she has returned nearly every day and has stayed in his company till nightfall where she would then take her leave, during her time with him he would usually make her one or two meals to eat and play with her as much as she wanted, which was fun for the both of them.

"Where've you been hm?" He asked as he patted her head, to which she responded by leaning into his hand, "Usually you don't stay away for more than a day or so, but you've been gone nearly a week, I was starting to get a little worried you'd forgotten about me." He admitted.

Upon hearing this however her ears seemed to perk up, and without warning she lunged forward sending him to the ground. Now on top of him she began to lick his face all over, causing him to laugh in response.

"Okay okay I get it you missed me too!" He exclaimed as he got into a somewhat upright position by propping himself up on his elbows "Tell you what, I'll make us something to eat and we can eat it together, how's that sound?" He asked her to which she responded by licking his face even more, causing him to laugh again "I'll take that as a yes then!" He said as he gently moved her from atop of him back to the ground.

Getting to his feet he dusted himself off slightly before heading inside, with her following right behind as though she lived there as well. This was honestly normal behavior for her, as after her first few visits she began following him inside whenever he went and even made herself comfortable on his chairs and couch a few times. Going over to his pantry he took out enough dried fish for both him and her, as well as some vegetables which would only be for his dish. He then went on to ready the stove and cook the fish with some oils in order to give it some more flavor as well as make it a little less crunchy, all the while she simply sat by the door and watched him motion for motion.

After five minutes of cooking the fish were smelling as delicious as they usually did, and after another few moments of chopping up the vegetables and putting them on his plate, he took both of them and walked over to the doorway where he then sat down. Setting her plate down on the ground so she could easily access it she hastily ran over and began to chow down. Watching her happily as it did give him a sense of pride at how much she seemed to love his cooking, he too ate his meal though not as eagerly as she was.

"Ah, that hit the spot~" He said with a blissful sigh once they had finished their meals, lightly patting his stomach as he did "Nothing beats good food with good company right?" He asked as he looked to her.

Amazingly it seemed as though right after she had finished her meal she had dropped to her side and fell asleep, which she normally did after eating his cooking. Smiling at how adorable she looked he took her plate and his into the kitchen and laid them in the sink to be cleaned later, he then went back outside, picked her up, and carried her inside. Walking through his kitchen and into the living room he laid her down on his couch, then took the blanket which rested on it's back and covered her with it. Watching as she curled up to enjoy the newfound warmth he left her to nap as to check the cabin for any weaknesses in it's structure, despite that he had already done so many times before.

But when one is to try and open a gateway through theorized dimensions and realities, it is better to be overly cautious than it is to be ignorant. Thankfully as he had done this many times before it didn't take him but five minutes to check the most essential parts of the cabin's structure, and once he was certain there would be no risk of it suddenly collapsing on him and his canine friend he returned to the basement. Closing the door behind him as he entered for he didn't want his friend to come walking in during the experiment, he then walked over to a blast shield he had made in the event of catastrophic failure to ensure it was secured to the ground.

 _"It seems as though everything is in order, all that's left is to power the gateway."_ He decided as he looked towards the device.

Walking over from the shield he reached down to the floor where a bundled wad of ten cables laid, he then took away the small bit of velcro that was used to keep them bundled off and began putting each of them in a different outlet within the gateway. For while it would've been far more convenient if he had managed to procure one or two larger cables, not only did this allow for an even distribution of power through the device, but it also made sure that if some form of damage occurred to the cables he could easily replace them, as he was pinching pennies mostly. Once this was done all that was left to get things started was to get behind the blast shield, throw the switch he had installed on the wall behind it, and be sure to have his recorder ready to document all that was about to unfold.

"This is Jake Robertson with experiment journal entry number seven." He spoke as he picked the recorder up from his worktable and turned it on "This is it, the final moment in which everything can either go perfectly or absolutely disastrous, but there is also the chance that nothing happens at all and the true results of the experiment are delayed to a later date once again, but I am as hopeful as a person could be in such a situation, so I believe that today is the day of success, so without any further delay it is time to begin the experiment!" He exclaimed as he got behind the blast shield then proceeded to flip the switch.

Starting with a low hum the gateway slowly came to life, and as a few seconds passed by soon the coils that lined the inside of it's body glowed with power, before they all proceeded to shoot between them blasts of electricity.

"So far so good." He said softly as he stared towards the machine intently.

Watching as the sporadic patterns of electricity began to build up within the gateway's center, the sheer power and force being generated by the device caused a fair bit of wind to blow out around it, causing any papers or pencils that laid about to fly and roll all over the room. Soon the build up of energy at the center grew greater and greater, slowly forming a sphere which in hope would grow into a massive portal like construct.

"It's...it's working!" He exclaimed as a grin came to his face "IT'S WORKING IT'S WORKING!" He repeated in a shout as excitement and joy filled his form.

Watching the sphere continue to grow more and more soon he could see something inside of it apart from the energy that it was made of, it was dark and seemingly empty but as there was no immediate vacuum that meant he hadn't unintentionally opened a doorway to space, but something that neither he nor any man of this world had ever seen before. But just as the sphere began to resemble more of an oval shape and more of what lied within was being revealed, a coil on the device suddenly exploded causing a disruption in the balance and distribution of energy, which inevitably led to the rest of the coils exploding in a similar manner and thus causing the gateway to lose all output which dissipated the sphere. For a minute or so after this occurred he simply stood there wide eyed and stunned, but where most would have been devastated at how close they had come only for there to be failure, he instead had another grin come to his face followed by an overjoyed fist to be thrown in the air.

"IT WORKED! IT WORKED! I mean yes it didn't last for very long, BUT IT STILL WORKED!" He shouted as he jumped up and down in his place before bringing the recorder to his face "Update to journal entry number seven, the experiment while short lived was without a shadow of doubt or question a complete success, and while it will definitely be some time before I am able to conduct another test, the fact is that I was RIGHT and I am not a loon!" He cheered only to clear his throat afterwards to better compose himself "At any rate though, what I saw within the sphere generated by the gateway was seemingly nothing but darkness, but as I and the contents of my basement were not forcefully sucked into it, this eliminates the possibility of it having been space, which means whatever it was I found it was indeed another greater aspect to existence as we know it, though there is no guarantee that by the next experiment I will see this exact same plain or if I will see something entirely different, and so I must wait until the experiment is conducted to make any further comment." He concluded as he turned the recorder off.

Walking out from behind the blast shield and over to the gateway he began looking it over to see if the damage was isolated to the coils or if it was spread elsewhere. Thankfully after looking over the cables and looking into it's inner workings, it seemed as though the damage was in fact limited to the coils, meaning that repairs and costs for additional supplies were going to be extremely minimum, which in of itself was a great success. However he wasn't in the mindset to take any proper notes or look further into what caused the coils to malfunction as they did, as he was feeling so joyous that he desired nothing more than to go back upstairs and wake his fox friend up from her slumber to share the good news, even if she would have no idea what he was talking about. But as he headed for the door and grabbed onto it's handle, a sudden sound occurred behind him causing him to freeze.

Slowly turning around to see what was it's cause, he found resting in his gateway a large opening that was similar to the one the device had created, complete with a seemingly endless dark nothingness that resided within. Unfortunately, before he could get closer to examine it or even observe it from a safe distance, several tendrils black in color suddenly shot out from the portal and wrapped themselves around his neck, wrists, and shins. Feeling immediate panic and distress as any creature would in this situation, he found he was unable to move or do anything as the tendrils began to slowly pull him towards the portal. But this feeling of helplessness wasn't just due to a physical handicap or restraint, it was as if something deep within him was also bound by these tendrils somehow, something that wasn't a part of his body.

"W-What is this?! I can't move or speak or do anything! it's as though I am no longer in control of any part of my being!" He thought worriedly as he was now but a foot away.

Just as it seemed that whatever these tendrils belonged to would pull him into this unknown domain, a sudden blast of blue flaming light came from behind him breaking them apart as well as burning them off of his form. Falling onto his back he was hit immediately with a wave of exhaustion and fatigue, causing him to gasp for air as though he had been suffocated. Yet with what little strength he possessed he willed himself to look towards the gateway to see what had happened, only to have his eyes shoot wide open in disbelief at what he was witnessing. Standing in front of the gateway was a red fox that was nearly three times his size, but what was even more shocking was the fact it had not one tail but nine, all of which were pointing towards the gateway while blue balls of fire hovered in front of them.

 **"BEGONE FROM THIS PLAIN VILE CREATURE!"** It shouted in a voice loud and booming like thunder as the fires doubled in size, "NEVER TREAD UPON THIS WORLD AGAIN!" It commanded as the fires shot forth towards the gateway.

The moment that they made contact the fires not only lit it ablaze in blue flames, but they also caused a series of explosions which somehow stayed isolated to the device's body, effectively destroying it as well as the portal. Silence then quickly took hold of the air as the only sound that disturbed it was the slowly dying flames of the once raging inferno. But in truth Jake wasn't paying the slightest attention to them nor did he stare at the ashen remains of the gateway, instead his eyes were unable to look anywhere other than the nine tailed red fox, for while there were countless thoughts and emotions going through his mind there was one that stood out among them all.

"I-It can't be...this...this isn't the same fox...there's...there's just no way it's possible..." He thought.

However he would be proven wrong in the next few moments, for once the last of the fire had died out the fox turned it's head towards him, before it then walked over and sat beside him.

"I'm sorry you had to meet the real me like this." It spoke with a voice that was feminine in tone, "But I am also happy that you can finally see me for who I truly am, for I am Amber, The Nine Tailed Fox Spirit." She revealed as she slightly bowed her head.


	2. Proper Introductions

A truly miraculous thing is when a person's entire life suddenly changes in a single instance before they can truly realize how much it has changed, and no doubt will continue to change as time progresses. Most of the time these moments are pleasant and exciting such as when a couple discovers that they're going to have a child, or when a person was selected out of countless candidates for the same job. But other times it can be shocking and gut wrenching, such as when a loved one suddenly passes or perhaps when a natural disaster is predicted to strike where you live. Yet there are very few and incredibly rare times when all of these feelings are felt at the exact same time, which is exactly the case for Jake Robertson as he is currently lying down on his couch with a wet hand towel laid atop of his forehead.

As for how he became unconscious, it was caused by the exhaustion he felt once he had been freed from the tendrils that had sought to pull him through the portal, as well as shock from having been told by Amber herself that she was in fact the same red fox which he believed was impossible. Speaking of that in particular, even though he was asleep his mind was still trying to make sense of everything that transpired, starting with the fact that not only did she have a name but she was apparently the spirit of the nine tailed fox. Now most people upon hearing such a thing would have no idea what that meant in the slightest, but due to his extensive research into the folklore, legends, and mythologies across the world this actually did bring forth a memory of something he knew of. Originating from Chinese mythology and later introduced into several other Asian cultures, the fox spirit or kitsune is commonly described and depicted as being mischievous, and is usually tricking people by assuming the form of a beautiful woman.

Most people actually do know of the nine tailed fox, but it is mostly due to it's appearance in multiple media platforms such as television, video games, anime, and so forth. But that information served him no use at this time, as while he knew about the nine tailed fox as well as countless other spirits and creatures said to have roamed the earth at a time, there were far more pressing matters that needed addressing. Where did that portal lead to, what were those tendrils, and why did she choose to save him if it meant revealing who and what she truly was? Thankfully he wouldn't remain in his thoughts and dreams for much longer as slowly he regained his consciousness, and the first sight that would meet him would be the familiarity of his ceiling.

"...Ngh...god my head..." He groaned as he immediately put his right hand to the side of his temple, feeling the towel as he did "What...what happened?" He asked as he sat up slowly while taking the towel away.

Getting into a full upright position he set the towel down beside him on the couch, and while he was busy trying to focus on everything that had transpired, he failed to hear the footsteps coming from behind him.

"Oh you're up." A voice said gaining his attention.

Looking over his shoulder to see who had spoken his eyes widened in surprise at what he saw. Standing there just a few feet behind his couch was a Caucasian woman dressed in a finely made suit, complete with black dress shoes, a white undershirt, and a red tie to bring it all together. As for her appearance beyond her clothes, she stood at six foot six same as him, had short dark brown hair that stopped at the base of her neck, and had matching dark brown eyes, which looked at him with a gaze that resembled a predator sizing up it's prey.

"Before you say anything let me explain a few things first." She said with a British accent, as to keep him from speaking "First introductions, I am agent Felicia and I'm here to conduct an investigation concerning both your research as well as your contact with the nine tailed fox spirit Amber." She began as she walked around the couch and sat down in a nearby chair "As for what organization I am a part of, that will remain privileged information depending on what your answers to my questions are." She explained as she crossed her legs "So let's begin with the easy one, what exactly is the purpose of your research?" She questioned.

Remaining silent for a few moments as countless thoughts and questions of his own raced through his mind, while he wanted to ask her so much he knew the best way to receive clarity on all of this was to do as she requested, so with a sigh to calm his nerves he answered.

"My research for the most part is simply self indulgence." He started as he intertwined his fingers "I've always been fascinated by the stories and tales of dragons flying through the clouds, angels and demons arriving from heaven and hell respectively, and of course the notion of other realms, plains, and dimensions which we have yet to perceive, and while most people would've simply written these things off as early man's undeveloped mind trying to make sense of something that at that time seemed mystical or magic in nature, I truly do think that there is more to these accounts than we're willing to believe, and so I've taken it upon myself to try and uncover their truths." He explained.

"Which is why you made the device?" She asked.

"Yes precisely." He replied with a nod "I believed that the best place to start my search for answers was to create a gateway that could in theory allow travel through reality itself, but seeing as how I do not know if heaven, hell, or any other plain truly exists, the only way for me to find anything was to simply hope that there was something to be found." He told her.

"Instead of trying to get a fixed destination you just banked on the possibility of there being any destinations beyond your own." She stated causing him to nod once more.

"Exactly, and while there was the chance I could just open a hole into space and be forcefully pulled through as a result, hence why I made the blast shield for safety, I still had no other real options or methods of discovering any other plains of existence, it was a roll of the dice so to say." He explained.

"Which is how you came to discover The Abyss." She said causing him to raise a brow.

"Is that what it's called, The Abyss?" He asked her.

"The Abyss is referred to as such due to it being a literal nothing, there's no laws that bind most realities, the foundations for existence as a whole do not have the same power or presence within it's domain as they do everywhere else, and there is no sense or reason to anything that goes on inside of it, in every way it can be described it is truly a dark empty void from which nothing yet everything can happen." She explained.

"Such as those tendrils that shot out and wrapped themselves around me, what were those?" He asked.

"More than likely it was a type of creature we refer to as an Abyssal Beast." She answered "Abyssal Beasts are nightmarish creatures that can quite literally appear as anything, not one Abyssal Beast is the same as another, all of them are born in The Abyss and in a sense are completely random in terms of their appearance and their capabilities." She explained.

"More than likely, as in it could've been something else?" He asked.

"I'm afraid I can't answer that right now, not until you've finished answering my questions." She told him as she crossed her arms "Now, tell me what the experience was like, did anything happen when the tendrils wrapped themselves around your body?" She asked.

"Yes, it was the most terrifying and helpless experience I've ever been through." He admitted as he leaned back into the couch "I could do nothing whether it be blinking or breathing, it was like I had been frozen solid yet was still awake to see what would become of me." He recounted as a thought came to him "But then, that's when she saved me." He added.

"The tendrils more than likely affected both your body and soul, rendering you completely helpless." She replied as she looked behind him "Do you want to explain how you saved him? or should I?" She asked.

Looking behind him he saw Amber still in her nine tailed fox form sitting at the base of his stairs, and while her size was fairly intimidating she possessed a sort of look on her face that made her seem somewhat shy.

"I...suppose I could." She said as she stood up and walked over before sitting down right in front of him "Souls are the most powerful things in all of existence, the potential for power for each one is limitless, and the only restrictions for their potential are the ones they put upon themselves, as for their unique form of energy it is capable of doing a multitude of things whether it be form manipulation, object manifestation, or even healing wounds and damage." She explained as she raised her tails up "The fire I summoned was a manifestation of my soul's energy, but it was also combined with mana which you know as magic, all souls have a finite pool of mana which like the soul itself can be improved upon endlessly through training and effort, hence why I was able to destroy those tendrils as I did." She added as she lowered them back to the ground.

"Once the tendrils had been severed you felt a great deal of exhaustion hit you, this is because humans, excluding rare cases, are one of the few forms of life that are known who do not have an innate connection to anything that is ethereal in nature, or that falls into the category of mysticism, so when they experience something like you did which directly affects their soul it can leave their corporeal beings reeling in pain, leave them exhausted, or even make them extremely ill." Agent Felicia explained.

"Thankfully though it didn't come to that as the moment you passed out I immediately began to heal you, but you still needed to rest and naturally regain your strength on your own." Amber added.

Silence then came over them as Jake needed a minute or so to process all of the information he was just given, and while he still had so many questions he wanted to ask them both, he felt there was one in particular that needed to be answered before any of them.

"Why me?" He wondered aloud as he looked towards Amber "You could've let me be pulled through as well as let whatever was to befall me happen, then I wouldn't know any of this and your true self would've remained a secret, so why save me?" He asked.

However, instead of receiving an answer right away Amber without a single word suddenly shined with a bright radiant light, and within an instant she was no longer a nine tailed fox but instead a human being. Looking up at her as she was intimidatingly tall her height seemed to be somewhere around seven feet. As for her appearance, she had beautiful skin that was as pale and pure as the snow white fur on her underbelly had been, her hair was orange same shade as her body's fur was and it went down just an inch or so past her shoulders, and finally there were those breathtaking blue eyes of hers. As for attire she actually had some, covering her form was a kimono clearly meant to reflect her fur colors, as most of it was orange like her hair, while the bottom and sleeves were black to resemble her legs.

"Why save you?" She spoke repeating his question as she looked down at him with a gaze of slight anger "How could you even ask something like that, after all the time we've spent together?" She asked him.

"Because it's clear that this is far greater than anything I could've ever imagined." He told her as he looked towards Agent Felicia "There's far more to existence than any human in the world knows, and it's clear that because I stumbled into it that there has now been a sort of breach in security, so why would you risk so much that has clearly been kept secret from the world just to save the life of one person?" He asked as he looked back to her.

To his surprise her response would not be verbal but instead physical, as he would feel a sharp sting of pain be sent through his cheek, due to Amber without any hesitation slapping him.

"BECAUSE YOU HELPED ME!" She shouted as tears formed in her eyes "I couldn't transform while I was in that trap, so I had to try and free myself or simply wait for whoever set it to come and get me, but then you showed up and saved my life!" She exclaimed as her hands balled into fists "And then when I found out you lived nearby I started coming around, and every time I did you cooked me a meal and even played with me, so forgive me if I wanted to save my best friend!" She went on before turning around and leaving.

Going out the front door and making sure to slam it shut behind her, Jake was left there to sit in stunned silence after all that she had told him. But thankfully he wouldn't be stunned for too long as but a few seconds passed by he quickly rose from his seat and followed her out the door.

"Hm, knew he would." Agent Felicia said to herself with a small smile as she closed her eyes.

Taking a look around the moment he got outside Jake didn't need to look very long to find Amber as she had gone and sat under one of the nearby trees, having transformed back into her nine tailed fox form at some point. Deciding the best approach would be a slow one, he walked over and took a seat next to her under the tree taking note that she had her face covered by her legs as best as she could.

"Amber...I'm sorry." He apologized with a sigh as he looked down at his lap "The truth is, I am of course very grateful that you saved my life from that...Abyssal Beast, and I didn't mean to come off as though I was berating you for doing so, it's just...this is everything I could've ever hoped I would experience as well as so much more, my whole life I believed that beings like you were real and I wanted to do anything I could to experience them for myself, and yet despite unknowingly having been in the company of such a spirit over the course of these past few months, I am now aware of the true nature of your being and I'm acting as though I'm ungrateful for you having trusted me enough to do what you did, so again I'm sorry Amber, and thank you for saving my life." He told her.

A few moments of silence would pass by as she seemed to be thinking on what he said, but then without warning she suddenly pounced on him pinning him to the ground.

"It's okay, I forgive you~" She told him as she happily rubbed her head on his chest, all the while her nine tails wagged furiously.

And so, as a smile came to his face Jake even though he knew there was still so much he would have to learn was excited for what lied ahead, and it was mostly because he knew he would have Amber by his side.


	3. A New Life Starts Now

"...Wow." Jake spoke as he looked down at a small black pile of ash "You truly left nothing of it did you?" He asked.

After their proper introductions were through and all of the questions he had for the moment were answered, Agent Felicia had to take her leave in order to report back to her superiors. With her gone Jake decided it would be best if he went back down into his basement to begin cleaning up the space, in addition to seeing how much damage was done in the altercation between Amber and the Abyssal Beast. All the while Amber after he apologized seemed to be sticking to his side like glue, which at first he simply assumed was due to the fact that she was now able to be her real self around him, which was no doubt a relief and joy for her. But as he looked to her while standing before the little pile that but an hour or so ago was his greatest invention, he noticed she seemed to be staying close to him in a similar manner to how a mother bear would stay close to her cubs.

"I'm sorry, but to be certain that thing wouldn't be able to simply open a new portal again and continue to attack you, I had to destroy your invention." She explained.

"I'd say that makes sense, but since I have no idea how portals work I'll just take your word for it." He replied as he lightly moved the ash with the tip of his shoe "Not even so much as a single scrap of metal..." He muttered to himself, admittedly now a bit frightened at just how effective her flames were at burning things.

"So what now?" She asked as she looked up at him.

"Well, seeing as how all that's left of my machine is a pile of ash I think I'll sweep it up then head back upstairs." He answered as he walked to a corner of the room.

Grabbing a broom and dust pan that rested in the corner, just as he turned around and looked to where the pile once was he found it to be completely gone, along with the charred black spot on his floor where the fire had burned it.

"You're welcome~" Amber said with a proud smile as he looked over at her with widened eyes.

"How...how did you do that in the span of seconds while my back was turned?" He asked.

"Simple, both the burns on the floor as well as ashes were made by my fire, meaning if I wanted them to disappear then all I had would have to do is make them." She explained.

"...Your fire grows more and more terrifying the more I learn about it." He told her as he set the broom and pan back down in the corner.

Walking away from the corner and towards the stairs, the moment Jake passed by Amber she stood up from where she sat and followed by his side.

"Um...Amber." He spoke as they ascended the stairs.

"Yes Jake?" She replied.

"Is there a particular reason that you're so close to me?" He asked.

"Does my presence bother you?" She asked while raising a brow.

"No of course not, you're just so close to the point that you're basically rubbing against me each time we take a step is all, and I was wondering if there was a reason for that." He answered.

"Well...I just...want to make sure that if you need help with anything that I'll be right here." She replied, though she averted her gaze when she did.

Raising a brow of his own as she was clearly not telling him everything, he decided to leave it alone for now as it really wasn't so important that they needed to talk about it further. Moving from the stairs and into the living room Jake went around to the front of his couch before falling backwards onto it, letting out a sigh as he did.

"Something wrong?" She asked him as she hopped up and laid down next to him.

"Even though it nearly caused me to be pulled into another plain of reality at the mercy of some unknown tentacled monster, I'm still a bit sad my invention is completely gone." He admitted as another sigh escaped him.

"It really meant a lot to you huh?" She asked.

"I mean, it was basically my life's work." He answered as he looked to his ceiling "My whole life I've wanted to prove to everyone that things like monsters and magic were real, and just as it seemed like I'd finally accomplish that, thanks to whatever that thing was my gateway went up in smoke." He went on "To make matters even worse I spent near all of my money on it, now I don't have enough to even buy me a new set of clothes." He admitted.

"Wait, are you out of clothes?" She asked.

"As much as it is humiliating to say, yes I am." He answered as he looked back at her, "During the previous experiments where I was working out all of the issues that arose whenever I turned the device on, my clothes either got burned due to electrical fires to the point that they were irreparable, or a small explosion happened that sent me back a few feet and riddled them with too many holes and tears for me to properly patch or sew them." He explained.

"...You blew yourself up?" She asked.

"Oh yes, quite a few times actually, you'd be surprised how many explosions can arise when you overwhelm a coil with too much power." He answered with a chuckle.

"And you lit yourself on fire?" She asked.

"It was worse than it sounds, first my jackets would catch on fire which of course I would attend to right away, but as I would be doing that some more sparks would happen and they would light more fires on my person, or as I mentioned before entire circuits would just overheat and erupt into flames and I'd get singed due to how close I was." He explained.

Waiting for her to say something in response, when he was met with nothing but dead silence he looked to his left to see what she was doing, only to find her staring at him with as serious of an expression as she could make.

"Um...is...something wrong?..." He asked, feeling a bit nervous since she was just staring him down.

"You won't be doing that anymore." She told him in as firm of a tone as she could.

"Do...what exactly?" He asked.

"Injuring yourself, I won't allow it." She clarified.

"Oh." He simply said, as he now realized what had made her so serious "Amber there's no reason to get so intense, accidents happen when you're building experimental and untested machinery meant to do things that have never been done in the history of man, it's just something that one must accept and deal with." He explained.

"Not you, not anymore." She repeated as she sat up as to be eye level with him, "So long as I am living here you will not be doing anything that can result in you getting hurt or worse." She told him.

"Wait, living here?" He questioned.

"Mhm, as of today I plan to move in here and stay with you, in order to protect you." She explained.

"Why didn't you mention this earlier?" He asked.

"Because you had just woken up and there were far more important things that needed to be discussed." She answered.

"Still, that's a pretty serious and important thing to just casually tell me without any kind of warning." He told her.

"Oh? and why is that? do you not want me to live here?" She asked.

Suddenly feeling as though he was walking on a thin wire Jake took the next few seconds to carefully think of what he was going to say, otherwise he ran the risk of either making her sad or making her upset, both of which were not good outcomes.

"No not at all, it's just...I've never lived with anyone other than my parents when I was growing up, and combine this with the fact that you and I are quite familiar with each other, I just don't want things to be made awkward or weird by having us live in such a close proximity to each other." He explained.

Silence once more came between them as Amber seemed to think about what he just said, all the while she kept her serious stare looking right at him, not even blinking a single time as she did.

"...Alright, you have a fair point." Amber agreed causing him to breathe a sigh of relief, "It would be a little strange for us to just suddenly start living in the same space with one another, however I do still want to live here in case something happens." She told him.

"Like what exactly?" He asked, not quite sure what could be so drastic that he would need her help.

"What if you open another portal and it leads to The Abyss again hm? or what if one of those horrors manages to appear regardless if you've opened a portal or not?" She asked.

"Wait, they can do that?" He asked.

"If it's The Abyss literally ANYTHING is possible, there's no way you can predict what will come from that realm, which is exactly why I want to be here to protect you." She repeated.

"Even so Amber, going forward I plan to be a lot more cautious with my research, I CERTAINLY do NOT plan on opening any more portals any time soon, at least until I have an understanding on how they work and how you properly attune one to a specific destination, so I really don't think that would be necessary." He argued.

"But what if an Abyssal Beast just appears like I said? what will you do then?" She asked.

"What are the ACTUAL chances of that happening hm?" He asked in return "I mean, if they really could just pop up out of nowhere without warning don't you think it'd be happening a lot more frequently? if anything there'd be an Abyssal Beast popping up every five seconds if that were the case." He reasoned.

"Look, I'm going to stay by your side to make sure you're safe okay? so you're just going to have to deal with it!" She shouted in frustration, not wanting to discuss this anymore.

However, after she had said that both of them fell silent, as both Jake and Amber herself hadn't expected her to get so heated all of a sudden, causing her to look away from him.

"...Amber?" He spoke after a few seconds went by.

"...I'm sorry." She apologized as a sigh escaped her "I didn't mean to shout like that, I was just...I'm sorry." She repeated, her ears flattening against her head as she brought her tails closer to her.

Knowing well the only reason she shouted was because she was simply worried about him after what had happened earlier, Jake felt a smile come to his face as he put an arm around her.

"You know, I think this is the first time in my whole life someone has actually been worried about me." He told her as he looked out the window "Thinking back to my childhood, the only times I can recall my parents ever being concerned for me was when I might potentially bring some kind of shame or embarrassment to our family name, so it's nice to have someone genuinely care about me for once." He admitted.

Waiting to see if that would cheer her up at all he felt his smile get a tad bit bigger as she looked at him, only to have it disappear as he found her serious stern stare from before looking back at him.

"What." She spoke in such a way that it felt as though she was harboring some kind of murderous intent.

"...You know what? forget I said anything." He told her as he immediately got to his feet to walk away.

Much to his dismay, before he could take even so much as a step in any direction away from the couch her tails wrapped themselves around his body and pulled him back down.

"Explain, NOW." She demanded, as her stare somehow became even more intense.

Even though every fiber of his being told him to try and escape he knew well that so long as her tails were wrapped around him, which if he weren't in such a panicked state he would be fascinated and amazed by, he would not get away.

"Alright, just please calm yourself, you're starting to scare me." He said, which managed to at the very least lessen the hold she had on him by a small bit "Look, I don't really want to talk about this too much because...well there's a lot of baggage there if I'm being honest, but let's just say when it came to my upbringing that my parents were very...specific." He told her.

"Meaning?" She asked.

"Meaning that I was to act a certain way, behave a certain way, speak a certain way, learn certain things, eat certain foods, you see where this is going, my whole life was planned out for me to the point where everything I did was either within their expectations or it was within someone else's, not a single thing I did until I decided to follow my true passion of searching for the truths in legends and folklore did I actually do something that was of my own desire, this also meant that any time I scraped my knee or got a bruise running around our home instead of getting a bandage and perhaps a kiss to make it feel better, I was given a lecture, a punishment, or even some kind of chore to do to make me learn how to not to behave as though I were insane, their words not mine." He explained.

Looking back to her to see how she was handling it, instead of finding her still serious and intense or perhaps even angry by what she just heard, he found her looking at him with a saddened, sympathetic expression.

"How...how could they do that?" She asked as she released him fully from her tails, moving them back behind her "How could anyone do that to their own child?" She added.

"You'd be surprised, to be honest it wasn't the WORST childhood ever, but it definitely wasn't good...well...ever." He admitted as he looked down at the floor "I never got to play with any other children, as they believed it would turn me into some kind of delinquent, I never got any kind of actual birthday parties with cake, clowns, entertainment and presents, just a yearly reminder that I would have more studies to keep up with, and I suppose it was unfair that I never got to go to anywhere I wanted, such as amusement parks or a movie theater or even something as simple as a playground." He rambled on, only taking a pause as a sigh escaped him "But like I said it could've been worse, I got three meals a day, I had a bed to sleep in, and for a while I did have some toys to play with in what little free time I had, though I don't remember them much since I only had them when I was fairly little..." He admitted.

Feeling sadness wash over him as he continued to venture down memory lane, he suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around him and pull him into a hug.

"I'm sorry Jake." Amber apologized as she rested her head on his shoulder "I shouldn't have made you talk about something like that." She said.

"You didn't make me do anything Amber." He replied as he touched her hand with his own "I mean, besides making me sit here that is, if I didn't want to tell you about it then I would've kept silent, it's tough thinking about my life as only a couple of years ago it truly became mine, but since you're going to be living here now it was only a matter of time until it started coming out." He assured her.

"Still, I should know better than to pry into another's past, I let my emotions get the better of me and I am sorry." She said "I do hope though, that if you ever feel like talking about it some more, even if it's just to vent, that you'll consider coming to me." She told him causing him to smile.

"Of course, like I said before Amber it's nice to finally have someone who genuinely cares about me." He replied causing her to smile as well.


	4. Sins Of The Past Part 1

They say that before you die your life flashes before your eyes, all of your memories, your accomplishments, your failures, and so on appear before you as though it were a film. And while some would find comfort in this chance to see the life you've lived and revel in all the good that came of it, others might be fearful of such a concept as it would mean reflecting on all their heinous wrong doings and sins. But what if in this moment you didn't die, what if your soul was caught within a limbo in which you still got to see your life flash before you only now there would be no end. As time passed by how much you couldn't know you would start to feel what's left of your sanity whittle away, so much so that you begin to hear voices and perhaps even see visions of something staring at you from beyond this hell.

And what if before you could truly realize what was happening, one of those visions of eyes staring at your from the void, actually came for you?  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"MEMBANTU! SILAHKAN SESEORANG!" An Indonesian man dressed in construction attire screamed into the night, as he ran through foliage of the jungle that surrounded him.

Frantically looking in all directions trying to find a way out of the seemingly never ending sea of plant life, his hope was that if he could just make it back to any of the island's shores he could find where they had landed, and once he did he would be able to call for help as well as escape the horror that was currently in pursuit of him. But with each passing step his legs grew heavier, his breath became shorter, and his vision became more blurred, combine all of this with the temperature and humidity which were already horrible during the day yet had gotten worse as it became night, with each hastened step he took he increased the risk of succumbing to a heat stroke. Yet as it was dying to a heat stroke would truly be better than what was chasing after him, ANY death would be better than the fate that waited for him should he fail to elude the monster that he had barely managed to escape from.

Unfortunately such is the way of life for plans to go astray, for just as he was about to cry out once more in hopes that someone else had evaded the creature, he was brought to an immediate halt as he ran into something. Yet instead of it being a tree or some other larger object that would have sent him to the jungle floor from the impact, the thing that brought him to a perfect stop was an array of near invisible silken strings that stretched out across the entirety of the jungle ahead of him. Unable to move, scream, or even blink as every string that he had run into embedded itself deep within his flesh causing him horrible pain and paralyzing every nerve of his being, all he could do was simply stand there and scream in his mind. But soon those screams which were of pain would turn into terror, as after but a handful of seconds passed by he soon saw two long legs come to rest on both sides of him.

Silence then came over the jungle, no screams, no cries, no more sounds to disrupt it's tranquility, though if any of it's denizens did care to listen perhaps they could have heard something being dragged across the jungle floor, along with the slight movement of leaves.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"Whatcha working on?" Amber asked as she rested her head on Jake's shoulder to see what he was doing.

It had been a few days since the whole gateway incident and while both Jake and Amber were adjusting to their new situation, it was honestly going far smoother than either had expected it to. Not that either of them had thought it would be difficult or that it would lead to disaster, but after figuring out where Amber was going to sleep to which she chose the couch, as she had slept on it many times before in her normal fox form, the only real difference to Jake's life was he now had a roommate. To be fair though Amber was probably the best roommate anyone could ask for, for while she has somewhat of a corporeal form which Jake still had to ask some questions about, she was still mostly a spirit which essentially meant that she did not have to bathe, use the bathroom, and would only need to eat when she felt like it, so the possibility of an awkward situation coming up was basically squashed. To make matters better she also didn't need any clothes, for much like how she changed form her clothes were simply a manifestation of her soul's energy, so unlike actual clothes her's couldn't get dirty or damaged less her soul was directly affected in some way, which was no concern.

And much to Jake's relief she had begun to relax about his safety as well, to the point where she would spend a great deal of time on her own out in his garden tending to the plants and crops, both to keep busy as well as to show her thanks for him letting her into his home. Though in all honesty she had already decided she would be staying with him anyways so he didn't really understand that particular reason.

"Until I learn more about...well everything, I've decided to shift my research from discovering new plains of reality to the harnessing of unseen forces." He answered, as he kept his focus entirely on building the device that laid before him on his workbench.

"Unseen forces?" She questioned, not quite sure what he meant by that.

"Things like magic and other mystical things." He clarified.

"If you want to learn how to use magic you don't need to build some machine, all you need to do is learn how to harness the mana already present in your soul." She explained.

"Which is what this device is hopefully going to help me do." He told her, causing her to roll her eyes.

"No Jake, I mean I could teach you how to do it so you won't need this thing you're making." She said.

"I appreciate that Amber, but if you don't mind I'd prefer to do it my way." He replied.

Slightly taken aback by his response, Amber with a pout grabbed his ear and gave it a pull.

"Ow!" He exclaimed in surprise, as he dropped the tools in his hands and turned to face her, "What was that for?" He asked as he covered that ear with his right hand.

"Why do you not want me to teach you how to use mana?" She asked as she crossed her arms ,"With my help you'd be able to use basic spells within a day, with that lump of metal there's no telling how long it'd take you." She argued.

"Because Amber, while I love having you live with me and I appreciate your help with my garden when I'm down here working, I don't want to rely on you for too much, I do still want to learn how to do things on my own when it comes to my research." He explained.

"You know I wouldn't mind you relying on me." She told him causing him to chuckle.

"I know you wouldn't, but still if I just go to you for every answer to every question I have then my entire research is ultimately pointless, and while I will in fact consult with you when I decide to branch into uncharted territory for the sake of my safety, I still would prefer to do this on my own." He asserted.

Looking at him with a serious stare which he knew was only to try and make him change his mind, after a few seconds with no result she let out a sigh.

"Fine, but if you hurt yourself with that machine I'm turning it to ash like I did the other one, and I won't allow you to work on any more." She told him, which in turn caused him to chuckle again "What's so funny?" She asked.

"You sounded like a mom with that last bit." He answered, causing her to blush.

"W-What!?" She exclaimed.

However, before their conversation could continue a knock was heard coming from their basement door, followed by a familiar voice.

"Sorry to interrupt you two." The voice of Agent Felicia called "But I need both of you to come up here, it's important." She stated.

Exchanging a look between each other as they were both surprised by her sudden appearance, Amber and Jake went up the basement stairs and opened the door, surprised even further to find that their visitor was already sitting down in the same chair as when she was here the last time.

"Please, have a seat." She instructed, as she pointed to the couch.

Taking immediate notice of how serious she seemed Amber and Jake walked over and sat down, both curious and a little concerned as to what could bring her here so suddenly.

"Before you ask." She spoke as to keep them from doing the same, "The reason why I'm here has nothing to do with either of you nor of your situation, I am here because I would like to ask for your help." She explained.

"Wait, really?" Jake asked as he was greatly surprised by that, "Why would you need our help? don't you have your organization to help you?" He questioned.

"Before any requests for aid can be issued in something like this an investigation must be held, we don't want to waste time and take people away from their assigned jobs and tasks on something that might be completely mundane and normal." She answered.

"Investigate what exactly?" Amber asked.

"On an island in Indonesia an entire group of a hundred men made up of construction workers and the crew of the ship that took both them and their equipment to the island have gone missing, however there were no signs of any attack, mauling, murder, etcetera, not even so much as a displacement in the sand surrounding their landing point to indicate some kind of predator or even another group of people are responsible." Agent Felicia explained.

"Um, how exactly do you know all of this? if you don't mind my asking." Jake inquired.

"Simple, when I was assigned to this world to both observe it as well as manage it I was given access to certain things that would make doing so incredibly simple, however as I've only been in charge of this particular world for a few years now, there's still a lot of things that I need to do, one of which is ensuring that all non mortal inhabitants are found, recorded, and monitored." She explained.

"In short, she basically owns this planet." Amber simplified causing Jake's eyes to widen.

"WHAT?!" He shouted as he looked towards Agent Felicia "Y-You own the planet?!" He asked.

"Yup." She simply replied with a shrug of her shoulders, "But it would be greatly appreciated if you could suppress the burning questions you have until after we address this particular problem." She told him.

Even though he wanted to bombard her with a barrage of questions he knew that it was best that they stay on topic, so with a deep breath to calm himself he looked back to her to continue the conversation.

"So, you say you need to find all non mortal beings, but wouldn't you already know if there were any here?" He asked.

"Not really, besides Amber who immediately reached out to me to let me know she was staying in this world, most entities that would be hiding from humans or even living among them would have no reason nor obligation to announce their presence to me or the Soul Society, which is why I have to conduct a thorough search." She explained.

"Soul Society? is that the name of your organization?" He asked.

"Did I never tell you?" She replied with a question of her own, receiving a shake of his head in response "Huh, must've slipped my mind last time I was here, sorry about that." She apologized.

"It's nothing to be sorry for, but if you could I would like to know more about it, in addition to the whole you owning the planet thing." He replied.

"Of course." She said.

"Ahem." Amber spoke as to gain their attention "The missing humans?" She said, hoping they could get back on track.

"Hm? oh right, as I was saying since I have yet to find any other non native form of life besides Amber living in this world I cannot be certain if this truly was the act of a foreign party, hence why I am here to ask for your help in looking into the matter." She explained.

"I can understand why you'd want Amber's help since she is a spirit, but what could I possibly offer that she doesn't? I am just a normal person after all." Jake pointed out.

"Because while Amber can help me detect the presence of any non native creatures or people, you Jake are a scientist and a brilliant one at that, so if this turns out to be a completely normal explainable situation then I would like your help to figure out the cause." She explained.

"Ah, so you basically just want two experts, one for science and one for magic." He said, causing her to nod.

"Pretty much, so what do you say?" She asked.

Taking a moment to consider what she had told them neither Jake nor Amber could deny how strange the whole thing was, a group of a hundred men just disappearing into thin air with no clear signs or evidence indicating what had become of them, it was almost like something straight out of a classic mystery.

"Well, I don't see any reason why we couldn't help you, it's not like we're doing anything important." He spoke as he looked to Amber "But what do you think?" He asked.

"The likelihood of a spirit or something else similar to one in nature being the cause for all of this is incredibly likely, and seeing as how they made an entire group of humans just vanish clearly shows they have no issue with harming or even killing them." Amber said as she crossed her arms "If this in fact the case, then it would be incredibly dangerous for any human to go there." She added, as she looked over at Jake.

"True, but both you and I will be accompanying him as we conduct this investigation, so if something should happen we can protect him." Agent Felicia reasoned.

"Plus I just recently finished working on a new invention that could potentially be of use, both in the investigation and as a means for me to take care of myself without needing to completely depend on the both of you." He mentioned.

"You aren't referring to the lump of metal on your workbench are you?" Amber asked with a raised brow.

"I'll have you know that lump of metal is an incredibly intricate and useful device, all I need to do is finish up some final design adjustments before we set out and it'll be fit for field testing." He replied.

Unable to keep herself from letting out an irritated sigh due to her inability to understand why he insisted on using that infernal contraption so much, Amber looked back to Agent Felicia to tell her her decision.

"Alright, I'll agree to help you and to let Jake come along on one condition." She told her.

"Let me come along?" Jake thought to himself as he looked at Amber with a confused expression.

"Which is?" Agent Felicia inquired.

"I am to always be by his side, I do not want us to be separated nor for us to split up for any reason of any kind, if this truly is a spirit or perhaps even in the worst case scenario a rogue angel or demon, then I want to be by his side so I know where he is and that he is safe." She said.

"Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way." Agent Felicia agreed.

"Then I suppose it's settled then." Amber said, causing the other to rise from her seat.

"I'll go inform my superiors about the investigation, I won't be long so be ready to head out when I return." Agent Felicia told them as she then headed for the door.

Watching her as she walked out and closed the door behind her, once they were certain she wasn't coming back in Jake immediately turned to face Amber.

"Let me come along?" He repeated, causing her to face him.

"Oh you know I didn't mean it in any kind of weird or demeaning way Jake, I just meant that I wouldn't let her put you into a dangerous situation is all." She told him.

"...You really are starting to sound more and more like a mother." He replied as he turned around.

However, before he could move from his seat he suddenly found his head wrapped in fox tails, as a very flustered Amber glared angrily at him,

"Will you STOP saying that?!" She asked, as she tightened her hold on him.


	5. Sins Of The Past Part 2

"Is it just me, or is it unusually cool?" Jake asked as he looked around.

To her word Agent Felicia was only gone for a total of ten minutes, and the moment she returned she told both Amber and Jake to come with her so they could get things underway. Of course in that ten minute absence both of them had gotten ready to depart, and while Amber didn't need to do too much to prepare, Jake finished up his device and also brought along some other research materials and tools, in the event his expertise would actually be needed. But just as Amber believed he too thought that whatever was behind this whole situation was more than likely something supernatural, so he didn't really think he'd be of any actual use. Regardless though, after they were ready to head out Agent Felicia right in front of them opened a portal that led to a beach, which when they stepped through it they realized was the very same beach she had mentioned before.

And while traveling through a portal that led to an Indonesian island was in of itself amazing for Jake, the most surprising thing that hit him immediately as they arrived was the temperature, as instead of being hot and humid it was as comfortable as his own home was.

"Yeah you have me to thank for that." Agent Felicia told him as she closed the portal behind them, "I was not about to spend this investigation trudging through a jungle with sauna like temperatures." She said.

"Don't tell me you can control the weather too?" He asked with widened eyes, finding nothing to be out of question at this point.

"To an extent, while I'm in no way a deity class being like Amber I still have a great deal of power in terms of mana, so all I did was cast a simple spell to make the conditions pleasant." She explained.

"Wait, by deity class do you mean?..." He trailed off as he slowly looked towards Amber.

"Yup, Amber's basically a god." She answered as she began to take a look around.

"You're a god and you didn't tell me?!" He asked, completely bewildered by this revelation.

"Eh, I'm a deity class being, Gods are specifically deity class beings who reside in heaven, they reach god status after being promoted by the Virtues." Amber explained.

"Excuse me." Agent Felicia spoke as to regain their focus, "If we stand around here all day and wait for you to get through your questions then it'll be night fall by the time we're done." She told them.

"R-Right, sorry." He apologized, feeling a bit foolish for getting carried away like that.

"It's alright, I understand that there's still a lot of things you want to know about, but for right now let's just focus on the current task at hand." She replied.

"Speaking of, what exactly are we going to do, are we just going to walk through the jungle and all across this island hoping to find something?" Amber asked.

"Do you have a better idea?" Agent Felicia countered as she crossed her arms "Despite my best efforts I've not found anything out off the ordinary, I tried using clairvoyance related magic to which nothing appeared, I tried detecting the presence of other souls beyond the animals to which I found none, the only thing left for us to do is to search this island top to bottom and try to figure out where those hundred men went." She explained.

"If I may." Jake spoke as to gain their attention "While I don't know how useful of a strategy it might be, we could try searching for more subtle clues than obvious ones." He suggested.

"Such as?" Agent Felicia inquired.

"Well, as you said during your initial search nothing appeared out of the ordinary, if this truly is all done by the hand of something greater than a normal man or animal, then it would stand to reason they would go to great lengths to hide their presence to anyone who might be looking on from elsewhere." He explained.

"Mhm." She sounded in reply, still curious as to where he was going with this.

"However, while they would pay attention to obvious details, like concealing their presence, hiding the bodies, things like that, there's very little chance that they were able to undo EVERY single thing that transpired here correct? such as branches snapping or even blood being left on the foliage and ground." He said.

"That does make sense." She admitted as she placed a hand to her chin, "The only way they'd be able to completely undo all evidence of something happening here would be if they used some form of chronomancy, but I'd be able to detect that within a heartbeat." She told him.

"Precisely, so all we need to do is look for a trail left by the poor men in their panic, for even if they didn't disappear at the hand of some unknown higher being in any other possible scenario there would still be SOMETHING leftover from the whole ordeal." He reasoned.

"You're right, nice thinking Jake." She complimented, honestly impressed by how quickly he thought of that "So, instead of combing over the whole island we'll narrow down our search to the center and a few of the areas around it." She told them.

"Why specifically there?" Amber asked.

"Simple, as I said before there were no footprints found on the beach, which makes sense seeing as how either waves or perhaps the potential culprit behind this whole thing could've easily made them disappear, however if we are to believe that the men didn't just suddenly disintegrate and weren't swallowed whole by the island itself, then something or someone would've had to chase them through the jungle or chase after them if they made a break for it, so focusing on the bulk of the jungle instead of the shore and the areas near it makes the most sense." Agent Felicia answered, before crossing her arms "Anymore questions?" She asked.

"I have one." Jake replied slightly raising his hand in front of him as he did, "Are there any caves or perhaps a cave system on the island?" He asked.

"As a matter of fact yes there are, another reason why we're focusing on the center of the island, from my first search I found numerous cave entrances that all seemed to eventually lead to one massive cavern below, however besides the fact that nothing appeared the first time I looked into it I didn't want to just recklessly go spelunking without someone to back me up." She explained.

"That would be rather dangerous, even for someone with your abilities." He commented, earning a nod in agreement from her "So, since we have figured out our search area there will be no need for us to split up, we can just start our search in the nearest cave and begin exploring the cavern." He suggested.

"Sounds good to me." She replied.

"I as well." Amber chimed in.

"Alright then, Agent Felicia if you would be so kind as to lead the way." Jake said as he gestured towards the jungle, causing her to chuckle.

"You are SUCH a gentlemen." She said with an amused shake of her head as she walked passed him.

Following right behind the trio did their best to stay as close together as possible to avoid accidentally getting lost, though considering both Amber and Agent Felicia clearly possessed a variety of ways to find others beyond sight and sound, Jake was really the only one who had to make sure he didn't get separated at any point. Which at first was not really that big of a concern, but as they continued to make their way through the jungle the foliage got thicker and more prominent as well, so if something were to suddenly get their attention or in the worse case scenario they were attacked, it would be fairly easy for him to lose track of them. But thankfully taking notice of this as well Amber was quick to make a solution before such a problem could arise, by bringing forth one of her tails and wrapping it around his waist, which of course caught him off guard.

"Um...Amber." He spoke, as he looked down at the orange furred tail that was now around his waist like a belt.

"Hm?" She sounded as she looked over at him.

"Why are one of your tails around my waist? furthermore how can you have one of your tails out while you are in human form, like you did before?" He asked.

"Well, as you know my appearance is mostly an extension of my soul, so all I have to do to alter it at any point in time is simply will it so and it shall be." She explained.

"Right, but a good bit of you is corporeal, otherwise you wouldn't have been trapped when we first met." He replied.

"Yes, that is because when I chose to live here among humans I didn't want to raise suspicions, so while there is some part of my being that is in fact corporeal, it was merely for the sake of being able to interact with humans without needing to put forth much effort." She explained.

"So to maintain an appearance as a completely incorporeal entity requires a lot of effort then?" He inquired.

"Yes and no, yes for as said I need to will my soul to make me appear as I desire, but no for that action in of itself is not demanding, however if I were to interact with humans and exist in a manner that would allow me to make contact with corporeal matter, I would need to then also make myself more corporeal, and if I during that time were to become injured or affected by something, my appearance would then be at risk of faltering due to the strain on my soul." She explained.

"Ah I get it now! the part of your current form that is actual flesh and organic tissue is meant to be insurance, in the event you sustain any kind of injury or damage to your soul that is significant enough to weaken your will, you will still be able to safely maintain whatever visage you're going for." He said causing her to smile.

"Yes that's exactly it, you really are smart Jake." She praised, causing him to rub the back of his head.

"Oh no it's not that impressive, especially when I have someone who is capable of explaining it to me." He replied.

"Hey lovebirds, we're here." Agent Felicia told them as she stopped walking, causing them to look towards her.

Even though Amber wanted to immediately retort and question her as to what she meant by that, both her and Jake's focus were instead drawn to the MASSIVE cave opening that laid just a few feet in front of them.

"My word..." Jake muttered as he took a step forward, Amber doing the same as to remain at his side "You could nearly fit a small building into that opening, and from what we can see it appears as though the cave itself is just as wide." He noted, as he did his best to peer inside.

"I would say this in of itself would be suspicious, but the fact is the caves have always been this big as far as I can tell, no human nor other outside assistance contributed to their current impressive size, only nature is to thank for that." Agent Felicia told him.

"Still, with no extra effort needed if someone were to choose this cave and the cavern that lies below as a hideout they'd be able to come and go as they pleased with no issue, as well as bring anything they wanted or needed in with them with the same ease." Amber noted.

"Such as a massive amount of bodies..." Jake realized, which admittedly made him feel a tad uneasy and nervous.

"If you guys don't want to go through with this say so now." Agent Felicia told them as she turned to face them "I will completely understand if you don't want to, I can contact my superiors and see if there is anyone available for this." She offered.

"No no no, we told you we were going to help you and we are." He replied with a quick breath as he steadied himself, "Regardless of whether or not this whole thing is supernatural there is still going to be at least a dozen or so bodies waiting for us either in this cave system or somewhere else on this island, so we might as well just do what we came here to do and get it over with." He told her.

"I agree with Jake, and besides even if we did agree to that the fact is if there is someone else hiding on this island they no doubt know of our presence, if we were to depart now we'd only be giving them the perfect window to escape." Amber added.

"Alright then, let's get this done." Agent Felicia said as she turned back around and headed inside.

Following her into the cave it didn't take long for things to progressively get darker as they went, leading Amber to summon one of her flames in the center of their group to provide illumination. And while they were all vigilant looking at every rock, crevice in the walls, and anything else that might have something on it or hidden behind it for potential clues, Jake was also focused on making sure his device was ready to act at a moment's notice. The device in question was a gauntlet like contraption that he wore over his left hand, the reason for it's design being like this was to make it easier for him to directly control and manipulate both his mana and any mana that might be nearby that didn't belong to either Amber or Felicia. And while it was in fact fully functional and ready for use, he was concerned that he might not even know what the feeling of using the device would be like, similar to how someone who's seen a gun be fired would be nervous to ACTUALLY fire one themselves.

"Are you sure you can rely on that?" Amber asked as she looked over, seeing him fiddle with it.

"Yes I am sure, I wish you would trust my skills as an inventor and engineer a bit more." He replied, as he kept his focus on the device.

"It's not that I don't trust your judgement or capability Jake, I just don't want you to rely so much on it to the point where it can actually put you into a dangerous situation rather than helping you out of one." She said.

"If he says it will work then it'll work." Agent Felicia spoke, catching them both by surprise "I wouldn't have brought him along if I thought for a moment he'd do something that would pose a risk to both himself as well as us." She told them.

"Thank you Agent Felicia." He said, feeling genuinely happy from the unexpected trust from the other.

Amber on the other hand was not as happy, instead she was suspicious as to why Agent Felicia was so quick to stand up for his invention, seeing as how she had only just met Jake a few days ago. But before she could think on that any further or perhaps even voice her thoughts to her, they all came to a stop as they had reached their destination.

"I can't see anything." Jake noted as they all tried to make even the slightest shape out from the pitch black darkness that laid before them, "It's almost like any light trying to get into the cavern just stops here at the entrance." He added.

"Luckily our light is not restricted by the laws of this reality." Amber said as she summoned several more flames and sent them into the cavern.

Spreading them out so they all covered the same amount of ground soon the space was covered in a bluish light, providing them unhindered sight of the cavern. Much to both their relief and disappointment though, as the flames illuminated every inch of what was ahead none of them saw so much as a pebble that looked odd, let alone anything that screamed foul play or mass murder.

"Huh...not trying to sound like an ass but that was a bit anti climatic." Jake commented, honestly expecting something to have been there.

"No I agree with you, this was a major let down." Agent Felicia said as she walked in "There isn't even so much as a single mushroom sprouting up." She added as she lightly kicked a nearby rock.

"It's not an illusion either." Amber told them as she walked in and took a look around "Everything we're seeing is real, and it all originates from this place." She stated.

"Great, juuuuuuuuuuuuuuust great." Agent Felicia groaned with a sigh as she crossed her arms "I was honestly hoping to find SOMETHING, but looks like coming down here was a complete waste of our time." She said.

"It might not be a complete loss, with there being nothing here and all of the other cave entrances being connected to this one location, we could use this as a temporary hub, making our exploration of the other caves and the surrounding jungle a lot easier and a lot more efficient." Jake told her, hoping to perhaps cheer her up.

"Yeah, I guess that is the one silver lining to this." She replied with another sigh "So I guess we'll each take a corridor to ourselves, see what we find, then meet back here to go and explore the rest of the jungle before we call this a day, sound good?" She suggested.

"I'm fine with that, Amber?" Jake responded as he looked to her.

"That'll be fine, this was the only place that any being on this island could've hidden, so the only threats we might face are just the native predators, which won't be of any concern." She replied while turning towards them.

"Especially since I already put every animal on this island to sleep to make sure we wouldn't be bothered." Agent Felicia chimed in.

"You know, you really are starting to scare me with how much power you apparently possess." Jake told her, causing her to roll her eyes.

"Yeah yeah I'm real scary, now let's get back to our search before it get's too late, I'd like to leave this island before the sun starts going down." She told them.

Taking one final look around the cavern to make sure they hadn't missed anything, they were all about to pick which corridor they would take to explore the rest of the cave system, when something occurred to Jake.

"Wait." He spoke to keep them from leaving.

"What is it?" Amber asked as she and Agent Felicia watched him walk over to a boulder that was near one of the cavern's walls.

"This...isn't right." He said to himself as he knelt down to look at it.

Confused by what he was going on about both women walked over to see what had gotten his attention.

"What's going on Jake?" Agent Felicia asked as they watched on, both unsure as to why he was so focused on this boulder.

"It only just occurred to me as we were about to leave..." He muttered to himself "Amber, could you bring one of your flames over here for a moment?" He asked.

Still completely unsure as to what this was all for Amber simply did as he asked and brought one of her flames to them.

"So are you gonna just think to yourself or do you plan to clue us in on what's going on in that head of yours?" Agent Felicia asked, a bit annoyed that he wasn't telling them anything.

"Do either of you notice something strange about this boulder?" He asked as he continued to stare at it.

"It's big, it's round, it's a rock." She answered for the both of them with a shrug of her shoulders "What else is there supposed to be?" She asked.

"A reflection." He told them as he gestured to it with his hand, "With how smooth and clear it's surface is we should be at the very least getting some kind of reflection of the light from Amber's fire." He said as he took off his glasses and held them up to her flame, "Even my glasses are able to reflect the light from this distance, so how is it this boulder as well as every other surface in this cavern isn't doing the same?" He asked.

Feeling their eyes widen in surprise by what he was saying both women looked around at the cavern walls and the other boulders, only to find that while they were in fact basked in the light from Amber's fires they weren't in any way reflecting it.

"What...does that mean exactly?" Amber asked, as she looked back to him.

"It means whatever we're looking at right now is NOT a boulder..." He told her, as he raised his left hand and aimed it in front of him.

Closing his eyes to focus, he imagined being able to conjure a flame of his own with the aid of his invention, and sure enough after but a second or so of focusing the palm of his gauntlet like device shined with a bright red glow before fire shot out towards the boulder. And the moment it made contact with the boulder's surface it caused all three of them to reel back in shock.

"Oh my god..." Jake stammered, as his blood ran cold.

The fire from Jake's device upon touching the boulder spread like a vicious wildfire, consuming it entirely within a matter of seconds. Yet it wasn't the fact that this happened that shook them to their cores, it was what was revealed because of it that made their eyes widen and froze them in place. Sitting there in what would've been the center of the formerly believed boulder was not one, not two, but five human bodies, all grayed and withered as if they had been there for thousands of years. But they knew for a fact that this wasn't the case, for as they looked at the clothes that adorned these corpses they saw construction worker attire, with words written on them in Indonesian.

Sadly before even one of them could say or do anything in response to this revelation the sound of something moving above them caused them all to immediately look upwards, to which they would just as quickly regretted. Even with Amber's flames the figure that clung to the ceiling overhead was fairly hidden by both the shadows and the stalactites that covered it, but what they could very clearly make out were several patches of blue hair that sprawled out in different directions with small yellow accents to accompany it, as well eight bead like eyes which unlike the cavern itself reflected the light from Amber's fires, in addition to their own faces as they stared up into them.


	6. Sins Of The Past Finale

There are times when it seems the whole universe has been brought to a complete stop, where everything around you appears frozen as it is in a perfect still shot. Many of these moments are a result of something shocking or sudden happening without warning, which in turn causes your mind to try and process what exactly is transpiring so you can regain your composure. and then the world around you can begin moving once more. This is exactly how Amber, Jake, and Agent Felicia all felt as they stared up to what they were beginning to realize was a giant spider, which clung to the ceiling above them. For as their eyes began to adjust to the darkness that still remained despite Amber's fires, they could begin to make out the rest of it's body.

But before any of them could make so much as a sound or move in the slightest way the massive arachnid suddenly fell from it's place above, though it was clearly intentional as before it landed with a thunderous crash powerful enough to shake the entire cavern it turned itself so it would land on it's feet. Still unable to move or say anything even as they steadied themselves to keep from falling over due to the vibrations, once the spider was standing before them and was now covered in the light from Amber's fires, every detail big and small could be made out clearly. The entirety of it's body was covered in blue hairs with accents of black, the aforementioned yellow, and even white being present on all of the joints of it's legs, while it's abdomen and cephalothorax were, just like it's legs, composed mostly of blue hair with the exception of a massive white stripe that went from the top of it's eyes to the back of the abdomen. However none of those colors held a candle to the final detail of it's body which were it's fangs that, besides being terrifying due to their sheer size, were bright red from their tips to about halfway up their length,

"You." It spoke, which only shocked them even more "You are a spirit." It said as it raised one of it's front legs to point towards Amber.

Upon being addressed by the other Amber quickly snapped out of her dazed state and transformed into her nine tailed fox form within an instant, all the while positioning herself so she stood in front of Jake and Agent Felicia.

"I am Amber, The Nine Tailed Fox Spirit of the Origin Spirit Kitsune!" She exclaimed in a somewhat authoritative manner, hoping to at the very least make it wary of her "You are a spirit as well are you not? or are you some abomination from The Abyss?" She questioned.

"I am Ava, Spirit of the Tarantula of the Origin Spirit Arachnis." The Other introduced "Tell me little fox, why exactly are you here in my home?" It asked as it then pointed it's leg towards Jake and Agent Felicia "With those humans accompanying you?" They added.

"I am Agent Felicia of the Soul Society." Agent Felicia spoke, answering for Amber "And this is my partner Agent Jake Robertson, head of Research and Development." She added.

"Oh really?" Ava replied as it turned towards Jake "If that is in fact the case, then why is there no rune placed on his soul?" It asked.

Unknown only to Jake there are certain runes in existence that can be placed on an individual's soul, each of them serves a specific function depending on which rune it is, in Agent Felicia's case she possesses a rune placed upon her soul by her superiors which lets any entity capable of seeing or sensing souls that she is an official agent of the Soul Society, which as one could imagine gives her a great deal of authority. However as Ava looked towards Jake they did not find any trace of runes nor of mana that even came close to their own or that of Amber and Agent Felicia, meaning that he was but an ordinary human. Knowing well that her bluff had failed both Amber and Agent Felicia got closer to Jake as to ready themselves if this situation were to get worse, which he of course took notice of.

"Listen to me." Agent Felicia told her as she raised her hand "This whole thing can be resolved peacefully and calmly, there doesn't need to be ANY escalation." She assured.

"The only reason you are still alive is because you are protected by the Society." Ava responded as they moved a bit closer "But he is a human of THIS world, he is not protected by any greater power or institution, so HE is fair game." She said firmly.

"YOU WILL NOT TOUCH HIM!" Amber shouted in anger as she flared her tails, summoning more fire at their tips as she did.

"Stop!" Jake shouted suddenly, gaining their attention "Like Agent Felicia said this doesn't need to go any further, all we came here for was to uncover the reason why the men who arrived here disappeared, and now we have our answer." He explained as he pointed to the corridor they came from "We did not come here looking to cause any trouble, we didn't come here looking to pick a fight, we just came to answer a question and now that we have the answer we can leave, and we will never return here and disturb you." He offered, hoping to bring this whole thing to a peaceful end.

Silence took hold of the air for a moment as they all waited to see how Ava would react to this, but as a few seconds passed by a low chuckle could be heard coming from their voice.

"I'm impressed human, you're the first of your kind from this world who has sought to reason with me instead of attack me." They praised as they took a few steps back "But there are some things that cannot be undone with mere words." They told him.

Before any of them could question what Ava meant by that the ground they stood on suddenly vanished and all three of them began to fall. Unfortunately for Jake however his descent would be worse, for near immediately after they began to plummet Amber and Agent Felicia were both halted by two massive spreads of webbing, while he soon disappeared into the darkness that lied below.

"JAKE!" They both shouted in unison only to quickly have more webbing be placed over their mouths.

The hole that had suddenly appeared below them slowly grew wider as Ava approached, allowing them to climb in and begin scaling down.

"This entire island is coated in my web, from the shores of the beach, to the trees of the jungle, to every wall, ceiling, and floor of the underground, I control it all." They said as they moved passed both Amber and Agent Felicia "I give you my word that neither of you shall be harmed, but you will be restrained here until I'm finished with that other human." It told them.

Even though the two women wanted nothing more than to break free of their binds and show that giant spider who they were dealing with, the webbing which they had come to realize was a product not of mana but of Ava's own soul, was far more powerful than either of them, which meant that they were going to remain perfectly still no matter what they tried. So now all they could do was simply stare at the ceiling of the cavern above them and hope that Jake had survived the fall, and was quickly doing his best to find a way out.

"Please...please be okay Jake..." They both unknowingly thought in unison, as they continued to try and find some way to break free.  
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Due to how sheltered and controlled his life had been Jake never once found himself in situations where he felt so vulnerable, and while even now faced with his current dilemma he still wouldn't trade what his life had become for the life he had two years ago, there was a small amount of regret for agreeing to come along. But it wasn't because of the pain he was feeling, nor the fact that there was a massive building sized blue cobalt tarantula wanting to murder him, he had regret for joining Amber and Agent Felicia because if he hadn't been here then things would've been fine.

"Only a few days after your first brush with death and you're having another, maybe I've discovered the world's worst talent..." He thought jokingly to himself, as to try and keep the fear that was slowly building inside of him at bay "Amber and Agent Felicia should be alright, it seemed as though Ava only wanted to kill me, and as it stands they've gotten a pretty good start..." He went on as he gripped his right arm, which was broken as he had landed on it when he hit the ground "Thankfully though it was just my right arm that was broken, while my whole body aches like hell I still can move and am able to use my invention, which thankfully didn't sustain any damage." He continued as he looked it over just to be certain "As it stands I can barely see anything down here, mostly using the walls as my guide, but I need to think of something quick before Ava catches up to me." He decided.

Almost as if on cue a noise though low due to it's distance, or perhaps from how carefully Ava was moving, could be heard coming from where he had fallen, indicating that they were now down there with him. Upon hearing the quiet near inaudible sounds of Ava's movement Jake's mind instantly went into overdrive, thinking of every possible action he could do to better his chances of survival.

"I could try fending them off with my invention, but seeing as how Amber and Agent Felicia were stopped immediately as we fell and they haven't followed since, any kind of offense from me would essentially be a guaranteed suicide." He reasoned as he continued to move, as he knew very well whatever magic he could summon would be less than pathetic in comparison to what they could do, "But if I continue to try and stay ahead of them there's no guarantee that I'll be able to find a way out, nor that they won't just catch up to me as I progressively get more exhausted, so my only remaining options are to try and reason with them once more, or just wait here to die..." He realized, as an overpowering feeling of dread washed over him.

Sadly he would not get any time at all to think of something else that he could try, for as he continued to listen for Ava's movements he found that they had suddenly stopped, meaning that something else had gotten their attention or they knew exactly where he was.

"Run, fight, talk, or die, these are my choices." He thought with a sigh as he stopped walking "But only one of them has any actual chance of success..." He said, as he turned around.

Remaining still as to see if his assumptions were correct, after a few more seconds went by the sound of Ava moving was heard, soon followed by them just barely poking their front legs and face from the shadows in front of him.

"You're not running?" They asked, seeming surprised by his decision to hold his ground.

"Would you rather that I did?" He asked, as they ever so slowly continued to approach him from the darkness.

"Hm, might make things more interesting." They replied as they pointed to his left arm with one of their legs, "Do you think you can fight me with that...thing of yours?" It asked.

"No not at all." He answered as he looked down at his invention "I thought that maybe it'd be useful for self defense, but from both your size and your ability to suppress both Amber and Agent Felicia with no effort at all, it's clear that the only thing it'd do to you is annoy you at best." He told them.

Feeling a chill go down his spine as Ava stopped mere inches from his person, the massive spider leaned even closer and raised themselves ever so slightly so that they were looking down at him.

"So what do you plan to do then?" They asked as it stared passed his mortal form and peered directly into his soul "If you do not plan to run, and you do not plan to fight, what possible scheme could you have that you hope will save you?" It questioned

"Nothing." He replied as he looked down at the ground "There's literally nothing I can do to stop you from killing me, I'm not stronger than you, faster than you, and without question am NOT more powerful than you in any way, all I can do is simply try to appeal to you to spare my life." He explained.

Like before in the cavern a silence took the air as he awaited their response, a small bit of hope appearing as it seemed as though he had caught their interest in some way.

"That's not possible." They spoke as they poked his chest with one of their legs "There was a time when I would have considered such a thing, a time when I would be willing to give every human a chance, but that time was long ago, back when I wasn't the only spirit on this world." She explained.

"B-But what about Amber? sh-she's been here for quite some time hasn't she?" He asked, doing his best to keep the conversation going.

"Perhaps she was here back then, but there were many spirits who lived on this world as well as many different beings of other races and power, but as time went on humanity drove all of them away." They answered.

"Why?" He asked, his curiosity beginning to overtake his fear.

"Because your kind are savages!" They exclaimed as they stomped the ground with their legs, his question unknowingly hitting a nerve "So much was given to humanity, knowledge, power, insight to the history of all that is, and what did they do with it? they made weapons, they waged wars, they committed atrocities in the names of deities who were sickened by such actions, before abandoning them altogether for a self made delusion that they believed was true, it does not take an ageless mind nor wisdom that precedes time itself to figure it out, humans are completely WORTHLESS!" They shouted in anger.

Even though every fiber of his body was screaming at him to run, to abandon this plan of reasoning with them in favor of just escaping, he knew very well by doing so wouldn't just be pointless but it would also only succeed in upsetting them more. So instead of trying to run away or provoking them further he decided to try the only thing he had left, which was to find some kind of common ground.

"H-Hey, you don't need to tell me!" He exclaimed as to regain their attention "I know perfectly well how horrid people can be!" He assured.

Unfortunately for Jake his attempt only seemed to make things worse, as quickly he found himself being pinned to the ground while Ava stared down at him, all the while he did his best not to scream out in pain from how this affected his broken right arm.

"You have NO idea what it's like!" They shouted, furious that he would ever dare to say such a thing "YOU are human, YOU are one of them, they would have NO reason AT ALL to try and kill you, or torture you, or set fire to your home, you know NOTHING about how cruel humans are!" It berated.

Upon hearing this however Jake instead of being fearful or trying again to calm them down had an idea come to mind, one that he was certain would put an end to this. But seeing as how he was currently pinned and Ava was clearly no longer in the mood to talk, the only way he would be able to free himself to carry out his idea was to do something COMPLETELY insane, but since he had no other options it was what he had to do.

"I'm sorry for this!" He apologized quickly as he closed his eyes.

Focusing just as he did before when he burnt the webbing that concealed the men's corpses, he visualized a bright flashing light hoping that would also be something his invention was capable of creating, to which it was. Hissing in pain Ava reeled back as light filled the corridor and the second he no longer felt their weight on top of him he got to his feet. Thankfully besides providing him the chance he needed to get out from under them the light had also managed to temporarily blind Ava, giving him just a bit longer to carry out the rest of his plan.

"Gah! you bastard!" They shouted as they did their best to regain their sight "I'll skin you alive for that!" They threatened.

Remaining still for a moment as their sight slowly returned, once their vision was back to normal Ava looked towards the end of the corridor to see how far he had gotten, only to be met with a sight they could have never expected. Instead of running away or perhaps even attempting to attack them during their blinded state Jake had instead taken off his vest, most of his shirt, and turned his back to them. And while that in of itself was completely unexpected and shocking, what really caused Ava to stop in their tracks and made every bit of rage disappear was what was ON his back. Nearly every bit of flesh from what they could see was covered in scars, some big, some small, some clearly made by either an object or something of extreme cold or heat, if anything as they looked at each and every one they were surprised he was even standing at all to begin with.

"I told you." He spoke as he looked down towards the ground "I know perfectly well how horrid people can be, my whole life is perfect proof of that." He said as he took his glasses from his face with his left hand "Nothing I did was ever right for anyone, my parents, my teachers, my peers, something at some point was incorrect or wrong, and believe me they let me know of it full force, so long as I learned my lesson and I wasn't rendered incapable of performing my expected tasks, then any form of punishment was allowed." He explained.

Silence for the third time took hold of the air, but unlike the previous two times where he had a feeling of unease during it, this time he felt only relief. But soon he would feel something else, several hairs as well as the leg they were on gently pressed themselves against his back, as Ava being as careful as they could moved it across each scar.

"Do they still hurt?" They asked.

"All the time." He answered "...So do the rest." He added causing them to stop.

"There's...more?" They inquired.

Choosing to respond by simply showing them he slowly turned around to show that it wasn't just his back that was covered in bruises and scars, but his whole body minus his arms and neck.

"I have a few on my legs as well, but mostly on my thighs." He revealed as he avoided looking at them, "They made sure only to punish me where others couldn't see." He explained.

"But...why?" They asked.

"Why did they hurt you?" He returned back to them as he closed his eyes "The truth is, I don't really believe there is a reason that we can understand, sometimes people just wish to show their control or power, or perhaps even just want to hurt others for the sake of being able to, and the more we try to find some answer that will satisfy us, that will make some kind of sense, the more we drive ourselves insane, I know that better than most." He told them.

Unable to keep memories tied to each and every scar that adorned his from from surfacing as he spoke, Jake couldn't keep himself from shedding a few tears out of frustration and sadness, which did not go unnoticed by Ava.

"It just...it never makes any sense..." He said though this time to himself as he balled his hand into a fist "You do everything to please them, everything they ask, everything they say, and yet it's just never enough..." He continued, as more tears escaped his eyes and fell to the ground.

Knowing well he had to get a hold of himself and repress the memories that continued to bombard his mind, just as he was about to drag his left arm across his eyes to wipe away his tears he felt a hand be placed on his chest. Opening his eyes and looking up he found what could only be described as a spider centaur, as while the bottom half was as he expected with an abdomen and four pairs of legs, resting on top of it was from the waist up a woman. And while he knew that this no doubt was another of Ava's forms much like how it was with Amber, he was surprised to discover how she looked as a human. Starting with the obvious was her skin which he had expected to be white or even blue given how prominent they were on her spider form, but those two colors actually made up the short somewhat spiky hair that rested on her head, so instead her skin was black to represent the black hairs that were also present on her as a spider.

But then you had her eyes and they by far were the most attention drawing thing about her, for instead of being like normal eyes with a white color making up most of them with the exception of the iris and the black pupil at the center, her's were completely black except for a bright yellow iris in each, which not only allowed for a pupil to even exist but also represented the few yellow accents she had on her legs. Yet before he could say something to her or perhaps ask her a question of some kind, a glowing light began to emit from her hand and was soon followed by the scars on his body beginning to disappear, to which he felt immediate relief.

"Oh...my god..." He breathed as every bit of pain he felt was quickly vanishing.

"Unfortunately I cannot heal your arm until it is mended, doing so would put the bone at risk of turning a certain way that would only cause more pain." She told him, her voice now much softer, possessing a compassionate tone to it as well.

Though he really couldn't make a note of that as it were, for as the last few of his scars began to fade away Jake for the first time in his life felt like he could breath without worry of agitating one of his wounds, which for him was something he never believed he would know of again. Sadly for such damage to be repaired to one's body like this a toll is paid, and so the moment Ava was finished Jake could not keep himself from falling forward, barely still conscious.

"Wh-What is..." He tried to ask as he was caught.

"Shh, it's alright now, just get some rest." She told him with a smile.

Though his mind did try to stay awake as to question if this were some kind of trap, it ultimately failed as Jake fell into a deep and blissful slumber. Remaining there for several minutes after he did Ava though aware of her actions still found herself questioning if this was truly real.

"Is it possible?" She asked as she looked down at him "Someone else who knows what it's like? to be punished when you've done nothing wrong?" She went on as she lifted him from the ground, carrying him in her arms with ease "As time has passed by, I've grown to understand why they hated me, your kind fear the unknown, fear what is different, and in the face of it all will stop at nothing to destroy it." She continued as she gently placed her forehead against his "But here you are, one of their own, one who wears the same flesh, speaks the same tongue, by all means you should be welcomed, and yet you are punished." She told him as she turned herself around in the corridor "I still believe your kind are worthless, that humans deserve to be left to themselves so they may be their own undoing, but if there are more like you, then perhaps there is some hope." She reasoned as she began to walk "And if not, at least there is you, and I promise, I will keep you safe." She swore as they both disappeared into the darkness.


	7. Sins Of The Past Epilogue

The more exhausted a body feels the longer it will rest, this is a simple fact for as we go about our daily lives and interact with the world around us we use up energy that we stored as we slumbered the night before. However, if a body should become strained physically or even injured to a great extent, a great deal more energy can be spent causing the time a person spends recuperating that energy to become longer. But then there are those whose lives are a constant struggle of remaining functional every single day all the while carrying a burden that makes doing so incredibly difficult, and the longer they carry this burden the longer it'll be before they return to what was once a healthy normal for them when that burden is no longer present. Such is the case for Jake Robertson, as after his recent encounter with another spirit named Ava, who to his surprise not only spared his life but also healed the countless scars and wounds that covered his body, he spent the next full week sleeping soundly in his bed.

The reason behind this is simple, in order to heal his wounds Ava needed to use a type of chronomancy magic that is commonly referred to simply as "Healing", which as it's name implies restores a body to a previous state. And while there are many different forms of "Healing" as there is with all forms of magic, the one that Ava was able to perform specifically restores an injured part of an individual's body back to it's original state by forcing the body to fully repair the damage, which of course put's a great strain on the body itself. So in order to completely heal him of all his injuries Ava had to not only use mana from her own soul but also rely on both Jake's mana as well what his body was capable of doing, and considering how limited his mana currently is this would inevitably drain him near completely. Thus causing him to fall into a slumber that was more so like a coma, as besides a few small facial twitches as he dreamed he did not stir or move in the slightest as he was quite literally incapable of doing so.

As for how he in such a state could've possibly returned home was of course thanks to both Amber and Agent Felicia, who upon seeing Ava carry him out of the pit felt unbelievable relief that he seemed alright. Of course there was a LOT of explaining to do on Ava's part, such as why she spared him, why was he unconscious, and why were his shirt and vest missing, which Agent Felicia planned to question once they were certain he was truly okay. And while she surprisingly enough was able to maintain a calm and collected attitude even after all she had endured Amber was not as capable. The MOMENT she was able to move she was quick to transform, take Jake from Ava's grasp, inspect him for any possible injuries, and once she had found that there were none she quickly let her anger be known as she began to yell at Ava for doing what she did.

But before that could go any further Agent Felicia got control over the situation and told Amber to take Jake home and leave her to deal with it. And while Amber at first wanted to protest against that idea and wanted so badly to attack Ava, she knew that getting Jake to safety was the best thing to do and so she took her leave with him in her arms. Ever since then Amber has done nothing but remain by his side waiting for him to wake up, only ever stepping away as to take care of his garden.

"I'm sorry Jake..." She apologized as she looked at his slumbering form, having done so countless times as the week had passed "I should've been able to protect you, I should've stopped her, but she was just...I was just..." She trailed off as she tried to come up with some reason or excuse, only to clench her fists in frustration "I...was weak..." She said beneath her breath, knowing well that was why she was rendered helpless in the webbing, "It has been so long since I've needed to use any of my power...but I swear to you that I will NOT allow something like that to ever happen again." She told him as she looked down at the floor.

During the week she had said this and many other things to him as he slept, even though she knew he couldn't hear her it was better than just sitting there in silence. Yet as she thought back to that moment, where he disappeared into the darkness and she was unable to do anything to stop it, she suddenly felt a hand be placed on her head causing her to look back to him.

"Don't...be so hard on yourself..." He told her, as he slowly awoke "It...wasn't your fault at all..." He added, wanting to comfort her.

Unfortunately for the somewhat dazed man he would have no time to say more, as the moment she saw he was awake she pounced him like a lion would a gazelle, pulling him into a near bone crushing hug.

"YOU'RE AWAKE!" She shouted in unbridled joy as she pulled him as close to her as she could.

"Y-Yes...I...Am..." He wheezed out as she was unintentionally choking him due to her strength.

Continuing to hug him for a solid fifteen more seconds before releasing him, even as he did his best to regain his breath she continued to show how excited she was by attacking him with a rapid fire assault of words.

"I. AM. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY!" She started off, apologizing yet again as this time she was certain he could hear her "I should've been able to protect you, I told you I would protect you, but then when you needed me the most I couldn't do anything and because of that, SHE nearly killed you!" She recounted as she took but a moment to look off to the side with a glare, as just thinking about Ava made her scowl, "But then that spider came back with you and I was so relieved and I thought that I wasn't going to see you again and-" She was about to continue until Jake cut her off.

"Amber please!" He exclaimed as he raised a hand to silence her, "I've just woken up from what feels like hibernation, give me a second to come to my senses!"

"Oh right, sorry..." She apologized causing him to shake his head.

"No no no enough with the apologizing, you have NOTHING to be sorry for, I'm just a little out of it at the moment." He told her, before a thought came to mind "Speaking of, how long have I been asleep for?" He asked.

"A whole week, all because I couldn't protect you..." She told him as she looked down at her lap.

"STOP." He said in a very authoritative tone, catching her by surprise "I don't want you apologizing anymore, as I said you have NO REASON to do so." He insisted.

"But I-" She began to reply, only to be cutoff again.

"YOU didn't do anything wrong, Agent Felicia didn't do anything wrong, and Ava didn't do anything wrong." He told her, to which upon hearing Ava's name she was about to protest, only to be stopped by him once more, "And before you say that Ava did in fact do something wrong, PLEASE hear me out." He begged hoping that she would listen, "I know that she killed those men and I am VERY aware of the fact she wanted to kill me, but she didn't do it because she enjoyed it, well...not entirely anyway, back when she first arrived on this world she tried reaching out to humanity, and they responded by attacking her and from what she told me even set fire to her first home, the ONLY experiences she's ever had with humans have been bad and violent, she had every reason to assume that those men and myself would be no different." He explained.

"But that's the thing Jake, you ARE different." She responded as she crossed her arms "You are not like those humans from back then, or even NOW for that matter, you are a kind and caring person who would never even think of hurting someone!" She exclaimed.

"I know that Amber, but there's no way Ava could have known that, she had no reason to assume that out of the numerous times she's dealt with my species that I would miraculously be the first human being she's ever encountered who didn't want to immediately harm her or even try and kill her." He argued.

"So what? that gives her reason to try and kill you? that excuses the fact she killed those other men? you do remember that there were a HUNDRED men that went missing right? who by the way were ALL found in that cavern of her's." She countered.

"I'm not saying that, all I'm trying to say is that she isn't some mindless savage who get's off to murdering humans, she has not once ever had a single good interaction with them beforehand and so instinctually her first reaction is to attack them before they can attack her." He reasoned.

"And how can you be so sure hm? how can you be SO sure that this wasn't just some ploy? she KNEW that Agent Felicia was associated with the Soul Society, so she could've just realized that if she were to in fact kill you it'd cause more trouble for her than what the kill was worth." She asked.

"Because Amber, I...showed her something that I knew she would understand, and it clearly worked seeing as how I'm still alive." He answered.

Much to his surprise that response managed to make her fall silent, as she was no doubt trying to figure out what he meant by that.

"What...did you show her?" She asked, as she looked at him with an analyzing gaze.

Unsure as to how he could possibly answer that without upsetting her further, before he was able to even open his mouth to try a sudden knock at his bedroom door was heard.

"Is he awake?" The voice of Agent Felicia spoke from the other side.

"I don't know, I think I might be dreaming." He responded as both he and Amber looked towards the door.

"Yeah you aren't that lucky." She said as she then opened the door and walked in, causing him to smile.

"I think I'm rather lucky considering things." He told her.

"Speaking of, how're you feeling? all nice and refreshed after your coma?" She asked, as she walked over to his bedside.

"To be honest I'm still a bit dazed, but all in all I do feel better, and hey my arm's not broken anymore so that is also a plus." He answered as he held up his right arm and waved it slightly.

"You have Amber to thank for that, once she brought you back here she not only mended it and healed it fully, but she also has barely left your side at all." She informed him.

"I figured as much." He admitted as he looked back at her, "Even though I wasn't aware of anything that was happening while I was out, I did feel this warmth next to me as I slept, guessing that was you." He said.

"Indeed it was, in fact I think it was Wednesday when I came to check on you that I found her sleeping next to you completely-" Agent Felicia began to say, only to have an orange fox tail suddenly shoot out and wrap itself around her mouth.

"DO. NOT. FINISH. THAT." Amber told her with widened eyes and a beet red face.

"Wait, what did you do?" Jake asked as he raised a brow, both curious and concerned as to why she seemed so embarrassed by it.

"NOTHING!" She hastily exclaimed as she withdrew her tail from Agent Felicia's head "I just, I wanted to make sure you were warm so I...cuddled with you." She explained sheepishly as she looked down at her lap.

"And by cuddling you mean?" He pressed, knowing there had to be more.

"She basically made a cocoon around you with her tails, she was in her fox form, sleeping like a baby, with the biggest smile on her face." She recounted, causing Amber's blush to worsen.

"Oh, well that's nothing to be embarrassed about." Jake said as he placed a hand on Amber's shoulder "I mean, how many times have you and I shared a nap together hm?" He asked.

"Well...yeah, but that was when I appeared as a normal fox..." She replied, still averting her gaze.

"I see no reason why it would suddenly change." He told her as another smile came to his face, "I'm just touched that you were so concerned for my comfort that you did that." He admitted.

"Aww, that's sweet." Agent Felicia said in a somewhat sarcastic tone, "And while I just hate to be the one who has to interrupt this little intimacy session, there is something that I came here to discuss with the two of you." She told them.

"Is it about what happened?" He asked as they both looked back to her.

"Mhm, as you can imagine after Amber brought you back here I had to deal with the aftermath, and believe me when I say it was a big pain in the ass." She answered as she crossed her arms, "First I had to spend SEVERAL hours interrogating and speaking with Ava to learn every bit of her history on this planet, THEN I had to go back to my superiors, tell them what had happened, and then deal with aaaaaaaaaaaaaall the bullshit that came with that, then when I wasn't here checking in on you I was going back and forth between Ava's island to oversee the cleanup operation of both the ship and the construction equipment as well as the hundred dead guys all wrapped up in nice little bows, and the Soul Society to organize every last report and official document relating to this incident which if you can believe was ACTUALLY worse than the incident itself." She explained, while over the course of the whole thing her tone continued to become more and more agitated.

"So...you've had a busy week is what you're saying?" He asked.

"...Ya know I could put you into another week long coma if you'd like." She told him, to which he responded by politely keeping his mouth shut "Anyways, the whole point of reciting my shitty week to you two is because there's ONE more thing I have to do before this whole shit show can be put to rest." She explained, before she looked over her shoulder at the doorway "That's your cue." She said.

Before either Amber or Jake could question who she was talking two both felt their eyes widen once they saw that very person step in front of the doorway. Standing outside was none other than Ava, though unlike before where her bottom half was still that of a spider's body, now she appeared entirely human. Standing at a VERY intimidating eight feet tall she appeared just as she did before with the same black skin, mostly black eyes with but yellow irises to separate the pupil, and short spiky blue and white hair that rested atop of her head. However there were some new details about her, such as the clothes she was wearing which comprised of a simple black tank top and long white pants that stopped just short of the top of her feet. And even without her height being what it was her physique in of itself was also intimidating, as from what they could see her arms without flexing were very muscular as were her legs, though they couldn't tell how much so as they were hidden by the aforementioned pants.

"Jake, Amber, meet Ava." Agent Felicia introduced as she gestured to her "Ava, meet Jake and Amber." She repeated as she then gestured back to them.

"What. Is. She. Doing. Here?" Amber asked slowly, doing everything she possibly could to keep from lashing out at the other.

"Everything surrounding the incident has been taken care of, the evidence disposed, cover story created, and paperwork sorted out, all that's left is for Ava to give a formal apology to the affected party I.E. Jake, and this whole thing will officially be done with." She explained.

"She doesn't need to do that." Jake said which caught them all by surprise, especially Amber "While the whole thing was...terrifying to put it bluntly, I understand that she had her reasons for being so hostile towards me and those men, so all is forgiven." He told them.

However, before Amber could object to that or Agent Felicia could say something like she still had to apologize, Ava was the first to respond by walking into the room, making herself briefly incorporeal as to avoid hitting her head on the doorway, then going over to his bedside. And while Amber instinctively brought out her tails and wrapped them around Jake in case she tried to harm him again, she still maintained her composure as she knew she wouldn't even be allowed to do this if Agent Felicia didn't trust her.

"I'm sorry for what I did to you Jake." Ava spoke, her voice just as soft and gentle as it was before "For the longest time I believed that all humans were alike, as no matter how much time I gave them to change they always remained the same, and as a result I came to hate your species unlike any other." She began as she gently took his hand into her own, "But after learning about what you had to endure in your life, how your kind were so cruel to you, I now realize that while most humans are as I've known them to be, there are exceptions like you." She said as a smile came to her face "And so now, I no longer wish to hide from the world and hunt your kind, instead I wish to see how exceptions such as yourself have perhaps made the world better, all the while, if you'll let me, I'll protect you from those who would bring you harm." She told him.

"Um...I don't mean to sound rude, but what exactly do you mean by that?" He asked, as though he was fairly certain he understood her meaning, there was the possibility there was some kind of misunderstanding on his part.

Yet instead of replying with words Ava chose to kneel down so she could be at face level with him, then she gently took his face into her other hand and leaned forward, until their faces were but centimeters apart from each other.

"I wish to keep you safe and loved." She whispered to him, before she then without hesitation kissed him.

To say that Jake, Amber, and Agent Felicia were all shocked by this would be a MASSIVE understatement, for while Jake could do nothing but sit there and let her kiss him, Amber and Agent Felicia couldn't keep their eyes from widening and their mouths from opening. But where as Amber was doing all that she could to try and shout or scream at the other for her sudden show of affection, Agent Felicia was more so like a deer caught in the headlights, unable to really do or say anything to what she was witnessing.

"I'm sorry." Ava apologized once she finally pulled away from him, "I heard this was how humans showed their affection and love towards one another." She explained as she looked into his eyes.

"Uh...well...uh...y-yes...that...that is one way that humans...um...show affection..." Jake managed to stutter out, as his mind was currently exploding from what just happened.

"Well, perhaps you can show me the other ways humans display affection?" Ava suggested as she stood back up "But that will have to be saved for later, right now I have to go outside and dig a burrow that will serve as my home here, as I wouldn't want to inconvenience you." She told him.

And with that she then turned around and left the room, leaving the three of them there to work through their shock.

"...Bye." Agent Felicia said, before she abruptly opened a portal behind herself and stepped through, disappearing in an instant.

"...Amber?" Jake asked as he slowly turned to face her, concerned with how she was going to react to that once she was done processing it.

"...AVA!" She shouted suddenly in rage as she transformed into her fox form and leapt from his bed, running out of his room after the other spirit.

Now left alone to himself, Jake deciding to simply stay in bed fell onto his back and looked towards the ceiling.

"...All I wanted was to open a portal to another dimension, instead I got two spirits now living with me who both want to protect me, and one of them apparently has feelings for me." He said as he shook is head in disbelief "No matter how you look at it, I have quickly lost any and all control over my life." He concluded as he closed his eyes to try and escape back into his dreams.


	8. When Fire Meets Kindling

"...So...are we...going to talk at all?" Jake asked, as he looked between the two women who sat at both ends of his table.

After everything had been settled for the time being Jake fell back into a heavy slumber for the remainder of the day, for even after a full week of recuperation was still not enough to get him back on his feet after what he had been through. But once the next morning came and the light shined through his window, he sat up in his bed feeling rejuvenated and refreshed, more so than he had been in quite some time actually. With this newfound pep to his step he got out of his bed and began getting ready for the day to come, starting with a nice refreshing shower in the bathroom just across the hallway, which would then be followed by a nice hot breakfast to top it all off. Yet while he was entirely back to his former self and presumed everything had been worked out during his sleep between Ava and Amber, he would find this was but a hopeful wish and nothing more once he headed downstairs after getting dressed.

The moment he reached the ground floor and began approaching the kitchen he could already feel this overwhelming aura of intimidation and intensity coming from within, but only as he turned the corner and laid eyes upon the awaiting scene did he realize just how serious it was. Amber and Ava were sitting opposite from each other at the dining table with their arms laying atop it's surface, their fingers were also intertwined as though they were conducting a business meeting. This however was a detail he would notice after he sat down between them, for the first thing that caught his attention were the focused unwavering glares both had in their gazes, the kind one would find in a nature documentary when two alpha predators cross paths. Unsure and a tad bit unsettled by this he decided to take a seat at the table as well, for even though he was quite hungry he thought it would be best to sort out this situation first.

Yet even as he spoke to try and become involved in whatever was happening, it seemed that they were so focused on each other that they hadn't heard him, or if they had they simply did not want for him to be brought into it.

"...Okay, well, if you two are just going to stare at one another I guess I'll go ahead and make breakfast..." He said, slowly rising from his seat as he did.

However, before he could even push his chair back to stand Amber reached out and grabbed onto his hand, causing him to stop.

"No, you shouldn't be doing anything for a while, not until we're certain you're okay." She told him, being the first to speak.

"Amber, I've been asleep for eight days, and two separate people have used magic to heal me, I think it's safe to assume I'm back to factory standard." He said somewhat jokingly, only for her to tighten her grip on his hand.

"Please Jake, the amount of stress and physical strain your body's been put through is serious, and considering the fact you are a normal mortal being, there could still be some lingering effects of the whole ordeal, we just want to make sure everything's fine." She insisted.

Although he wanted to continue protesting he couldn't argue that her logic was sound, and when it came to this entire field of knowledge he was of the three of them the least informed, so there was no denying that this wasn't just coming from worry.

"Alright, but while I've got you talking can you please explain to me why you and Ava are sitting here having the world's most intense staring contest?" He asked.

"I don't know, can we?" Amber asked, putting her attention back towards her fellow spirit.

"I'm not the one who ran through Jake's home as though I were on fire, only to then tackle me and send me through his door." Ava countered, causing the other to snarl.

"You did what?" Jake asked.

"Well if SOMEONE hadn't KISSED him with such disregard to his feelings as well as his personal boundaries then perhaps I wouldn't have felt the need to put said someone in their place." Amber replied, causing Ava to ball her hands into fists.

"I was only showing him my intentions forthright fox, as well as showing you and Agent Felicia that I harbored no ill intentions towards him, I did nothing wrong." She said.

"DID NOTHING WRONG?!" Amber shouted, losing all composure as she shot up from her seat "YOU NEARLY KILLED HIM! YOU BROKE HIS ARM! AND YOU THEN SUDDENLY DECIDE YOU CARE ABOUT HIM?! WHAT KIND OF FOOL DO YOU TAKE ME FOR SPIDER?!" She questioned.

"I believe we're starting to let things get out of hand..." Jake tried once again to be heard, only to be ignored twice as Ava rose from her seat.

"I APOLOGIZED FOR THAT FOX! AND I AM HERE NOT ONLY TO PROTECT HIM BUT TO MAKE AMENDS FOR MY ACTIONS! I AM NOT HERE TO BE ATTACKED AND INSULTED BY A SPIRIT WHO IS SO WEAK SHE COULDN'T PROTECT HIM HERSELF!" She shouted back.

Feeling his eyes widen once those words were said, Jake slowly looked over to Amber only to find her appearance was slowly changing. Her teeth were baring though they were all fangs, the nails on her fingers from what he could see were now longer and sharper to the point they were nearly claws, and her tails were beginning to appear one by one behind her accompanied by a growing growl.

"Take. that. back." She said through gritted fangs, her normal elegant and soft spoken voice now replaced with a deep and commanding tone.

"Even if I did fox, it doesn't change the fact that if you had been stronger you would've kept him from falling into my dwelling, and if he hadn't landed on his arm but instead his head or even his spine, you would have let him die." Ava told her.

That was it, the last push Amber needed to lose all control of herself, giving in to the unbridled desire to tear into her with all her might. Lunging from her side and easily making it over the table, just as the prior she tackled Ava to the ground and with her sharpened nails began slashing away at her. And although Ava was a spirit, meaning that there would be no blood drawn this did not mean her strikes did nothing, for as Jake could determine her attacks were causing gashes and wounds to appear on Ava's body, though what these meant precisely he could not be certain.

"AMBER STOP!" He shouted as he stood up, hoping that if he objected to it that would be enough to bring it to an end.

Sadly his words fell upon deaf ears for both women, as Ava responded to her assault by grabbing onto Amber's wrists before then pulling her close and bashing her head against her own. Being dazed by this counterattack it would leave her vulnerable just long enough for Ava to continue her retaliation, as she then grabbed her by her neck and threw her with such strength and power that she not only went through the cabin's wall, but also into a tree that was easily twenty feet away. Gasping from the pain both her soul and what little corporeal matter she had felt from this action, she barely had any time to recover before Ava was on top of her, having transformed her lower half to that of her true self as to be faster. She then would use her pointed legs to pin Amber down against both what remained of the tree as well as the ground beneath them, causing her further pain and ensuring she wouldn't be able to easily escape.

"You act as if you're so better than me..." Ava hissed, showing the other her crimson fangs as she did, "You act like you have never done anything that you've regretted, but I KNOW for a fact that you have, as we all felt the same about his kind at a time." She said.

"That...was different..." Amber grunted out, doing her best to ignore the pain, "That was before the society, before the great being became involved with mortal worlds and lives, before all ancients and ethereals turned away from this realm and the worlds not of their own making, but you never left, you chose to stay here and continue killing them regardless of how much time passed, you're nothing more than a savage who revels in the sadistic suffering she can inflict." She told her.

Upon hearing those words Ava much like her opponent did away with any and all composure, letting loose a primal scream in anger as she reared back a fist to strike her with. But just as she was mere inches away from connecting, Amber's tails shot towards her arm and wrapped around it completely, before then burning it fiercely with her blue fire. Screaming in agony Ava reared back due to the pain, giving Amber just enough freedom to be able to escape and get to her feet. Keeping her tails firmly wrapped around the other's arm and the fire burning as well, she then pulled herself closer with her nails ready to embed themselves in Ava's form.

This unfortunately would backfire, as the moment she drew near Ava used her free hand to once more grab onto Amber's neck, which in turn would cause her to move one of her tails to Ava's neck which would bring them to a stalemate. For while Amber still burned her arm with her other tails, the fact is she could not begin to burn Ava's neck for that would cause her own to be crushed. However the damage done to her soul would not be so severe that it would render her incapable of some action, and seeing as how she had absolute control over her fire, this meant even if she was left to lay on the forest floor she could still keep both the fire on her arm as well as the one on her neck if she should cast it burning, which would bring Ava down as well. Both women knew this, which is exactly why they remained as still as could be while keeping their grips firm, neither planning to be the one to back down as they sought to be the victor.

But then it happened, both were suddenly stricken with a horrible soul wrenching sensation that not only caused them to release each other, but fall to the ground in a mess of twitching limbs and spasming bodies. At first both assumed it was the other, having employed some kind of devious attack or magic that would give them the upper hand, but then a voice was heard that made them realize this was the doing of a third party.

"I leave you two alone for literally half a day, half a fucking day and you not only try beating the shit out of each other, but you also trashed Jake's home." Agent Felicia told them, as she appeared before them with her hands behind her back.

Yet she was not the first thing their eyes went to as she said this, instead they went towards the cabin to see just how bad the damage really was, only to be met with a sight that made them feel more horrible than the pain they had inflicted to each other. True to her word Jake's cabin had been damaged to a surprising degree, not only was there a massive hole in it's side from where they both exited, but nearly all of the furniture that was in the living room had been destroyed as well from when Amber tackled Ava. Even still that was not where their focus was, instead their eyes fell onto Jake who stood in the middle of it all, looking at both of them eyes widened with shock and horror. But before either of them could say anything, whether it be to him, to her, or just in response to being brought back to their senses, Agent Felicia spoke up once again to keep them silent.

"So, here's what's going to happen." She began, her tone emotionless and cold, "You two are going to get your shit together, I don't care how you do it but you both are going to figure out how to get along and act like the ageless spirits you are, because if you don't then this will be the last time you will EVER get to see Jake as I will make it my personal mission to keep you as far away from him as possible." She told them.

"Y-You wouldn't..." Amber meekly responded, as the mere thought of never seeing him again struck more fear into her soul than anything Ava or anyone else could ever do.

"Oh? and why wouldn't I hm? do you think I give two single shits that you both supposedly care about him?" She asked as she came closer.

"But we do..." Ava replied similarly to Amber.

"Then why are the two of you covered in bruises and wounds, fighting as ruthlessly and carelessly as an Abyssal Beast, completely ignoring the effect your little catfight had on him?" She asked, before then turning to look at him "Speaking of, what do you have to say about all this?" She asked.

Looking back at him with worry at what he was going to say, all three of them watched as he took his glasses down from his face to look them over.

"...To be honest, I don't really know." He admitted, a small smile adorning his features soon after, "My entire life I always loved to read stories that everyone believed to be fiction, tales of creatures and entities beyond the wildest imagination, capable of doing things that would take man countless centuries to accomplish with technology and science, all with but a snap of their fingers or the blink of their eyes..." He explained, just as his smile turned downwards into a frown "But now, as I stand before three people who come from such origins that prove that these things are in fact real, two spirits while one I presume is human like myself, I can't help but wonder if perhaps my involvement with them thus far and any involvement I have going forward has and will cause problems, thus bringing forth the possibility that maybe it would be best if this arrangement was ended before it can truly begin." He told them.

"Are you saying you want things to return to normal then?" She asked.

"Of course not, I'd have to be truly mental to want my life to revert back to a point in which I knew not what I do now." He immediately answered, looking directly towards her to show he was serious, "But even if I want them to stay if that will only cause more problems and more fights then perhaps we should part ways, for I do care about both of them even though I have only known Ava for a short time, both of them are people well beyond me in both wisdom and age and I would give anything to stay in their company to learn more about them and their experiences, but not if I will cause them to be at odds with each other, I don't want to be the reason for why they get hurt." He explained, as he put his glasses back on.

"Well, what do you have to say to that you two?" She asked, looking down at them.

Much to her expectation, both women seemed to be on the brink of tears, their faces filled with guilt as both his words and the reflection of their actions realized just how senseless they had acted.

"I'm...I'm so sorry Jake..." Amber apologized, as she got to her feet so she could look at him, "I never meant to cause you any kind of trouble...and after everything you've done for me since we've known each other...I'm ashamed..." She said.

"I'm the one who should apologize." Ava told her, as she got to her feet as well, "I should have been more thoughtful of my initial interaction with Jake, especially after what I tried to do to him, I only antagonized you with my display of affection and worsened the animosity between us, it's my fault." She said.

"It's both your faults." Agent Felicia interjected as she crossed her arms, "Both of you have lived long enough, been through enough, and know well enough to not act like you were just born yesterday, you're not naïve children, you're not emotionally unstable teenagers, and you're certainly well passed the point of just coming into your maturity, so both of you are equally responsible for what has happened, is that understood?" She asked.

"Yes, it is." Amber replied, as Ava simply nodded in agreement.

"Good, glad to see you've finally pulled your heads out of your asses and are starting to think properly again." She told them.

"So, what happens now?" Ava questioned.

"Simple, you two as I said are going to work things out, it's good you seem to be on the same page now, but until I am completely certain this stupid shit won't happen again, and you won't put Jake into any potential danger or harm because of it, you are not allowed to be near him." She said firmly.

"So where do we go to work things out then? if we can't be near him." Amber asked.

"Nowhere, you both are going to stay here while he comes with me." She answered, causing all of their eyes to widen.

"Come again?" He asked.

"Don't get any weird ideas in your head, it's not like I'm taking you back to my place or something outlandish like that, while these two become besties you'll stay temporarily at the Soul Society, which I figured you'd enjoy seeing as you'd be able to get just as many answers to as many questions as you want there as you would from them, all in all it's a win win for everybody." She explained.

"But what about my home?" He asked, looking up at the hole he stood in.

"I'll have it fixed while you're gone, don't worry by the time they're hugging each other and singing duets your cabin will be in pristine condition, as if this entire shit show never happened." She answered.

"Oh, well, if Ava and Amber are willing to go along with this, then I suppose I am too." He replied.

"Great, then we'll leave these two to get started on their couples therapy." She said, as she walked over and stood in front of him, "Fair warning, this might be a little weird, first non local portals usually are." She told him.

"Wait what?" He asked, only to be pushed by her in his chest and be sent through a portal she had summoned behind him.

Having a smirk come to her face as she saw him land on the floor on the other side, she would then follow after and close the portal once they were both through, leaving Amber and Ava alone to begin as she put it, to get their shit together.


	9. For Every Answer Gained A Hundred More Questions Appear

Disorientation, an unpleasant feeling that is often felt when an individual experiences a hectic or confusing situation. This could occur when stepping off of a theme park ride designed to instill this, or when you have a bit too much to drink and the world around you starts spinning. But for Jake Robertson, who was continuously finding himself in the center of sudden unexpected scenarios, was quickly growing used to experiencing this sensation.

"You okay?" Agent Felicia asked, looking down at him as he remained on the ground.

"May I make a request?" He asked, while staring blankly at the sky above him.

"Don't see why not." She replied.

"The next time you feel the urge or want to push me suddenly through a portal, could you at least give me some kind of warning before you do?" He asked.

"I'd happily agree to that, but then it'd take the fun out of it for me, so we'll have to see how I'm feeling when it comes up next time." She told him with a smirk, causing him to sigh.

"Guess I'll have to accept that..." He said, as he moved his hand to his glasses to adjust them, "Follow up question, what is...whatever it is I'm seeing?..." He asked.

Looking up to where his gaze was they both were met with the sight of a sky that was a breathtaking blend of bright vibrant silver and a cool shade of violet. Unlike Earth's sky which during the day was a solid blue and may perhaps have a few white or gray clouds filling it, this sky was more comparable to that of an oil painting that invited you to be lost in it's beauty.

"That's Purgatory, as in the entire realm of Purgatory." She answered, before looking back to him "You see, this for many reasons isn't like your world, it's not a planet existing in a universe which exists in a realm, what we are in now is the realm itself, to simplify it think of a matryoshka doll and how the more you open it the smaller the dolls inside get, your world is the smallest doll followed by the universe which is the second smallest and finally your realm which is the medium, trust me when I say you don't want to know what the big ones are." She explained.

"Noted, thank you." He replied, as he brought himself to an upright position "So, I'm presuming that if Purgatory exists, then Heaven and Hell do as well correct?" He asked.

"Mhm, in total there are seven realms, you've just named three of them, the mortal realm which you and all mortals thrive in is another, then you have the realm in which Amber and Ava originate from which is the Ether, short for Ethereal." She answered.

"I'm guessing the reason why you haven't mentioned the remaining two is because I don't want to know about them right?" He asked, getting to his feet.

"Yes and no, yes because the last one would raise WAY too many questions for me to answer right now, but no because you've already gotten a taste of one of them." She answered.

"Ah The Abyss, so wait, that counts as it's own realm? I thought it was the space between all plains? sort of like the gap in a doorway?" He questioned.

"Like I said, too many questions." She repeated causing him to sigh.

"Well WHEN am I going to be able to get more answers? is this like some coin operated fortune teller and I need to feed you some kind of currency to get what I want?" He asked.

"While that does sound tempting, especially if I can decide what you have to give me, the actual reason is because there's someone who can far better explain it all than myself, and he's right in there." She said, as with a point she directed his attention to something behind him.

Turning around he felt his eyes widen in surprise, for what stood just a few feet away was an intimidatingly massive structure, the likes of which he'd believe impossible to achieve if this were in his world. He couldn't tell how long the building was both forward and sideways, it seemed as though it stretched on well passed the point of sight, though given how little he knew he wondered if this was in fact the case or merely something else. But it wasn't just the size of the structure that brought him to pause, it was also the amazingly detailed architecture that made it's design that was truly astounding to him. Resembling what one might think of if they were to combine a boarding school with a grand cathedral, every single shape, statue, tapestry, and column that could be seen was made with such clear care and intent that it was more akin to a work of art.

This however only worsened the ever growing mountain of questions and curiosities that filled his mind, for looking beyond the awe inspiring visual of the institution presented before him, the imagery it displayed was also intriguing to a devilish degree. Some of the statues he understood what he was seeing, as they seemed to be of entities that could potentially be demons or angels, but then there were figures and creatures who resembled nothing he could compare to. As for the tapestries that hung on the columns and down from the roof they too carried mystery, for the images woven into their fabric seemed to be comprised of two separate things, symbols and writings that represented both laws and commandments. Though none that he looked at matched anything from his world, no religion or any other form of spirituality came close to their detail, thus leaving him without so much as a foundation to begin his own theories and speculations.

"Welcome to the Soul Society, it's just as intimidating and incredible as you imagine, and so much more that your mind may or may not be able to comprehend." She spoke after a minute or so of silence, walking up to stand beside him as she did.

"Incredible is an insult to this..." He said to her in a low volume, causing her to smirk.

"You know, you're pretty cute when you're all dumbstruck like that." She complimented, causing him to immediately turn to her.

"W-WHAT?!" He shouted aloud, which in turn made her burst out into a fit of laughter "Oh...I see..." He muttered, now realizing why she had said such a thing.

"Oh...oh by the ancients...THAT was as good as I hoped..." She managed to get out amidst a small fit of chuckles "Anyways, let's go on inside." She told him.

Nodding in agreement to her suggestion, they walked side by side up the stairs towards the twin set of doors that served as the building's entrance, which were just as carefully crafted as everything else. Reaching for the door out of instinct to open it for her, the moment he grabbed onto one of the handles and began to pull, it felt as though he were trying to move a mountain. Yet before he could remove his hand he would see hers move atop it, and just as he was about to question as to why he was kept silent as with her assistance it was drawn back with such ease, that one might assume it was weightless.

"Only those who are part of the society, or who have been allowed entry at one time by a member are able to do so, anyone who dares try force their way in or even to damage the building in any way, will find their soul in it's entirety brought before it's head, and if that should happen you best be still and hopeful." She told him, both her tone and delivery gave the impression it was a rehearsed warning.

"Understood, thank you." He said as they both let go.

"Don't worry, once we're inside and get things all settled, I'll be sure to give you a visitor's pass." She replied in a far lighter tone, causing him to smile.

Letting her get ahead of him as he knew not what to expect, once they were both inside the door behind them closed on it's own, taking with it what little light was present to try and illuminate the space. Covered in darkness to a degree that would normally cause distress and put one's senses on full attention, there was a strange yet incredibly soothing cold brought on by it, comparable to what one might feel when resting beneath a fan on a hot day.

"It feels so...peaceful in here, if that makes any sense." Jake told her, even closing his eyes as to enjoy it more.

"The Soul Society is a governing power for all creation, such an institution is one that could cause a LOT of people to either be scared or nervous, so we make sure that everyone who steps into our domain is met only with comfort, to make the experience far easier and more normal especially if they return on more than one occasion." She explained.

"Makes sense, still why the all consuming darkness? are there things that can only be seen if one has permission?" He asked.

"More so you only see what you want, we handle a great deal of things as you could imagine, and because of that we have to make sure nothing is lost or misunderstood when it is brought to us, so in order to find what you're looking for all you need to do is will it so and it shall be, but given this is your first visit I'd like to ask you let me do the showing." She requested.

"Of course, I'd probably just take us to a closet or something of the like, and think it was special or amazing." He humbly admitted.

"Well don't say that, you'll convince me to let you lead the way." She replied with a smirk, causing him to roll his eyes.

"You know, the more time I spend with you I realize that beneath the appearance of a professional is the personality of a snarky tease." He told her, eliciting a gasp from her.

"And here I thought you were a gentleman." She said in feigned shock and disappointment.

Managing to get a few chuckles out of him in response much to her delight, she decided that enough time had been spent standing in the dark and thus brought them to a destination. The method of which was so instant and so swift that for a brief moment Jake believed they were somewhere completely different, only to then realize this wasn't so due to the design of their surroundings. Though the outside of the building was made of a material that appeared as stone, yet was no doubt something entirely foreign to him and his world, the inside of it based on what he was seeing was made of a material which resembled marble. The floor beneath them which was spotless and pristine in condition was the same shade of silver present in the sky, while the walls that surrounded them though mostly made of the same shade of black as the darkness they were just in, had accents of the same violet from the sky as well.

"I'm beginning to see a consistency with the color scheming of this place, from the sky to the floors and finally the walls silver and violet are present, is there a reason for that?" He asked, as he noticed that besides standing in a hallway which stretched beyond sight, they also stood before a door similar in design as the previous set.

Responding not with words but a simple look over her shoulder at him, he in turn released a sigh and allowed his shoulders to slump.

"Right, too many questions..." He said, sadly growing used to this response.

"Don't worry, you'll get your answers soon, just have to make sure he's in right now." She promised, before reaching out and knocking on the door.

Beyond the obvious curiosity of who she was referring to, there was something else about the way she spoke of this mysterious person, that made it seem as though she might know them in a familiar way. Yet this would be something his mind would dwell on later, for the moment she knocked a set of footsteps were heard coming from within towards the door, and as it opened to reveal it's owner he only could focus on their appearance. Standing above both of them at seven feet much like Amber, the similarities this person had to the two spirits he was familiar with went beyond just their height. The most glaringly obvious thing about them was that they resembled an owl, but of what breed or type he could not discern.

But it was not just their face that matched the avian, it was the wings though folded against their back that were clear as day an owl's, the same for their hands and feet which were also the same as the animal's. This led Jake to assume that whoever stood before him was a spirit much like Amber and Ava, though given their attire matched hers, it was clear they too were employed by the society.

"Ah Felicia, so good to see you've returned." They spoke with a voice that was not only masculine, but also carried a sense of refinement and poise, "And I see you've brought mister Robertson along as well, how wonderful." He noticed.

"Yeah, unfortunately the two spirits who are currently in his company decided to get violent while inside his cabin, so while they get their petty little problems all worked out, and while his home receives repairs for the damages done, I was hoping he would be able to stay here with us." She explained.

"Oh but of course!" He exclaimed with a smile, as he stepped aside and gestured to the room behind him with an arm, "It'll be so nice to finally meet and converse with the man who's earned the attention of not just two spirits, but my daughter as well." He said.

Upon hearing that sentence come to it's end Jake slowly with eyes as wide as dinner plates turned towards her, his mouth doing it's best to speak without stuttering, only to fail miserably on execution.

"D-D-Daughter..." He barely managed to get out, causing her to look at him.

"Oh right, probably should've mentioned that huh?" She asked.

Looking back and forth between the two Jake's mind was overloaded with questions, so much so that after a few seconds more everything began growing dark...

"Jake!" He heard her shout, before he felt the cool calming cold of the floor beneath him as he fell unconscious.


End file.
